In the meantime, people are forced to deal with an unhelpful Adoption Board and adoption agencies that are inefficient, archaic and sometimes downright dishonest. To alleviate the situation and avoid waiting lists of over five years in some cases, many people choose to do their own trace.

The APA publishes several guides for people who wish to follow this route. They are available for both viewing/printing on the Internet or can be downloaded in MS Word format. Using our guides, hundreds of people have successfully traced and reunited with natural parents, siblings placed for adoption, or now-adult children placed for adoption. Our methods are perfectly legal and use only public records. Traces have usually been achieved in a fraction of the time taken by adoption agencies!

It is important to realise that our guides are works-in-progress. They are added to and amended on a regular basis with up-to-date information, tips and advice. Please check back regularly to make sure you have the most up-to-date information available.

If you decide to do your own trace, we strongly recommend that you join our online Yahoo! mailing list/discussion group. The Adoptionireland Mailing List has over 200 members at any one time. Many of them are either in your situation or have already completed a trace and reunion and can advise you along every step of the way.

Tracing — A Guide for the Natural Parent. This is for people who placed a now-adult child for adoption.

Tracing — A Guide for Sibling Traces. This is for people who wish to trace a now-adult sibling who was placed for adoption.

Tracing — A Guide for De Facto/Illegal Adoption Traces. Unfortunately, not all adoptions were legal. Where the child was registered as the natural child of the adoptive parents, or where there other illegal activities involved in the adoption, different methods of tracing must be used.

Tracing — A Guide for the Adopted Person born in the UK. Many children were born in the UK and subsequently adopted in Ireland. This guide explains how they can trace.

Tracing — A Guide for those born in Ireland and adopted in the U.S. We know that over 2,000 Irish-born children were exported to the United States for adoption. This guide explains how they can trace.