Alan Shatter
Question:58 Mr. Shatter asked the Minister for Health whether he will consider modifying the form of the long form Birth Certificate currently used by adopted children as, for some children, it can cause embarrassment and distress.
Written Answers. - Birth Certificates for Adopted Children.
I appreciate that some concern has been expressed in relation to the format of the certified extract from the Adopted Children Register which, for an adopted child, serves the same purpose and is acceptable in the same contexts as a birth certificate.
However, there are serious considerations which dictate that the certificate should have its present format. The deletion of any reference to adoption could be misleading in that it would invite the inference that the adopters of a child were its natural parents. For this reason the Review Committee on Adoption Services, which reported in 1984, concluded, with regret, that they could not recommend a change in the format of the certificate. In these circumstances I do not consider at this stage that any change in the format is warranted.