Reg Barker Traces Birth Family After 45-Year Search Tied to Forced Adoption

Q: After apologizing, will the government unseal birth records for the 185,000 victims of forced adoption?

No. Based on the reporting available, the government has promised an apology for historical forced adoptions in England, but it has not announced that it will unseal birth records for the estimated 185,000 people affected. What is clear is that campaigners, adoptee groups and parliamentary committees want easier access to records. They have called for improved access to adoption files, better tracing support and trauma-informed services. The Education Committee and groups such as the Adult Adoptee Movement and Adoption UK have all argued that an apology should be followed by practical reforms. At present, adult adoptees in England already have some legal routes to obtain information. Since reforms under adoption law, adults aged 18 and over can seek birth-family information and use intermediary services, but many still report major barriers, including cost, delays and difficulty navigating the system. That is different from a blanket move to “unseal” all records. So the position is this: an apology is coming, but there is no confirmed government commitment yet to open all sealed birth records. If ministers want the apology to amount to more than symbolism, record access is one of the main next steps campaigners will be watching for.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Jun 23

At 66, Reg Barker said a 45-year search finally let him identify his birth parents and meet three half-brothers and a half-sister after learning at 18 that he had been adopted.
A passport application exposed the adoption when his birth certificate carried a different name, setting off decades of inquiries through social services and the Salvation Army.
Adoption papers showed Barker was born in Bristol, was unwell as a baby, and that hospital staff pressured his unmarried mother to surrender him; she then visited him weekly for 3 and a half years before his adoption.
Barker never met either biological parent—he said the closest he came to his mother was standing beside her coffin at her funeral—though he called meeting his half-siblings "an amazing journey."
The case lands as the UK government says it will issue an apology "very soon" to victims of historical forced adoptions in England, which affected an estimated 185,000 babies after World War Two.