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To speak to an adviser, please call our free and confidential advice line 0808 801 0366 (Monday to Friday 9.30am to 3pm, excluding Bank Holidays). Or you can ask us a question via email using our advice enquiry form.
Support and information services for birth families affected by adoption in England
Look for services in your area that provide support and information for birth families affected by adoption.
The map below is for birth relatives of children who have been adopted, are being adopted, or may be adopted, and who are looking for information or support. The terms ‘birth relatives’ and ‘birth family’ mean the biological family of a child.
This map includes details of support and information services available to birth families in England affected by adoption. It includes information about services that are free for birth families and offer:
- General or legal advice and information about adoption
- Advocacy support to help birth family members get their views across when dealing with children’s services and other official agencies
- Counselling or therapeutic support
- Support groups for birth family members affected by adoption
- Advice and information about contributing to a child’s life story work or life story book
- Support with contact with an adopted child, including letterbox contact (contact is also sometimes described as ‘keeping in touch’ or ‘family time’)
- Support for birth family members to access adoption records and information held by children’s services or another adoption agency
- Information and support about reconnecting with an adult relative who was adopted as a child (some services included in this map may charge a fee for this).
To get started, enter your postcode in the search box below or click on a region on the map and select a local authority from the list. On the next page you will have the option to filter services to look for what you need.
Find services near you
Select a region on the map or search by postcode.
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To find services near you, please select your local authority from the list below.
As you search, remember that you can look for services where you currently live and in the area where the child was adopted, is being adopted, or may be adopted, if it is a different area. This is because services in both areas may be able to give you support and information.
This is a map of services in England only and will not show services available in other countries.
If you have any questions about this map, or if you want to share the details of a service to be included in the map, contact office@frg.org.uk.
We use the terms birth family and birth relatives in this map and we use these terms to avoid confusion in situations that may also involve adoptive family members. For more information about adoption, see our adoption page.
This map was last updated in March 2024. We will review this map every year to keep the information as up to date as possible.
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