Who are Birth Links?
Birth Links is a support service for adopted adults and for birth relatives affected by adoption. It aims to provide advice, support, information and guidance.
Birth Links understands that adoption has lifelong implications for all involved and at times individuals may need support and advice from professionals who understand adoption.
Birth Links covers Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, North Somerset, South Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
Birth Links is an independent service that is part of Adoption West.
Contacting Birth Links
Phone: 07394 569544 (Telephone available Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday – can text or leave a voicemail)
E-Mail: birthlinks@adoptionwest.co.uk
What does Birth Links do?
We aim to provide support and guidance for birth relatives, before, during and after an adoption order. We have a dedicated team with a wealth of experience that understands the impact adoption may have on birth parents and their families.
- We can listen to your story and how you are feeling about your child’s adoption
- We can explain the often confusing process of adoption
- We can help you write a letter for your child when they are older explaining what happened and how you feel about it
- This service is short-term (usually up to 6 sessions)
Support and advice
- Adults who were adopted as children may find that they struggle with a range of issues related to their adoption and identity.
- We can offer support and guidance to help you explore these issues and any feelings that may arise. This will be short-term (usually up to 6 sessions)
Access to adoption records
- Many adopted adults want to find out more about their birth family and about the reasons for their adoption.
- We can access your adoption records and share information from them with you.
Some adopted adults will want to search for and sometimes contact their birth family.
Some birth relatives will want to search for and sometimes contact their adult adopted relative.
This is best done via an ‘Intermediary Service’ which provides assistance in contacting a relative of an adopted person and vice versa
Birth Links does not provide an ‘Intermediary Service’ but is able to offer a free one-hour consultation, which will include a discussion around the nature and availability of intermediary services, and the impact of an approach/contact for all involved.
Birth Links can also provide information, advice and guidance in relation to the 2015 Amendment to the ‘Children and Adoption Act 2002’. This amendment enables ‘Descendants of Deceased Adopted People’, to access information about the adopted person.
