Under the Information and Tracing Act, which was signed into law earlier this year – adopted people are now entitled to a full view of their origins and birth documents such as medical information and birth certificates.

Much of the public is united in their view that this is a massive push forward for persons who were adopted, until this point, there was no legal access for an adopted individual to know whom and where they came from.

Under the new law, which was finally actioned on Monday of this week, even if the biological parent does not want to give access to their adopted child they will have no legal recourse not to do so.

The Act will also bring in some new remedial measures for anyone who was affected by illegal birth, such as free counseling.

Patricia Carey, CEO of AAI, said: “This is a historic moment. The new birth information and tracing services are about bringing comfort and understanding to the many families in Ireland who have been touched by adoption.

Cost of tracing your birth family

The cost of tracing your family varies depending on what adoption agency you used, Some agencies do not require any fee whatsoever, others have opted for a charge to cover things such as:

• Phone calls
• Travel 
• Other costs associated with tracing

If you have traced your family and need a replacement birth certificate then you can use our online application today.

Birth Information and Tracing Act 2022

The Birth information and tracing act was officially made a law on the 30th June 2022, this law allowed people who were adopted, boarded out or had their births illegally registered to obtain access to the following information 

• Their birth certificate
• Information about their birth and early life
• Medical information

The act was cut into 2 stages, the first stage was that in July 2022 the contact preference register was opened for applications. This register had to be opened for 12 weeks prior to tracing requests being made.

The second stage which was actioned on Monday of this week (3rd October) allows for adopted/illegally born individuals to make tracing requests in order to know what their origins are.

Trying to get your original birth certificate

If you have already been issued your original birth certificate and now need to replace it due to loss, damage, or theft.  Then there are several ways to apply, applications can be made in several ways – over the phone, local records office, by post, or online. 

Apart from applying online, each of these methods has an expected wait time of over 3 weeks, but potentially up to 6 weeks if more information is required.

If you need your birth certificate quickly then you can use our online service which despatches applications made by midday, the very next day – Order a replacement birth certificate

Replacement birth certificate Ireland

If you have lost, never received, or have a requirement for a birth certificate the team at Irish certs can provide a delivery service faster than any other online service. Contact us today for a replacement birth certificate.