Ms Helen Gilmartin:

Much is made of the fact that in England and Wales the adopted person is given information to enable them to get their original birth certificates and there is a view that they only have to ask and everything is simply handed over. This is not so. It should be noted that people adopted prior to 12 November 1975 in England and Wales, like our own mostly closed adoptions, have to have counselling, because the same assurances were given to the birth mothers there that their information would be kept private. Even with adoptions that took place after 12 November 1975, counselling is almost always part of the process. I am regularly in contact with English and Welsh social workers and I help with searches. I have asked how they exchange information and what I have described as the ideal way in Ireland seems to match their usual procedure regardless of when the adoptions happened. Assessing the applicants' understanding of what contact might reveal, both positive and negative, how they would handle it if there is a negative feedback, explaining the value of taking things slowly and being considerate of the other's feelings about having their past opened up to assessment or judgment, particularly if the mother had another kept child-----