I have never had any problem buying a certificate from the Adopted Children's Register, as long as you have the full name and GRO index details and the correct money! The details given on the certificate are the adoptive name of the child, its date of birth, the name(s) of the adoptive parent(s) - if a couple you just get Mr & Mrs X, no mother's maiden name given - and the date and court of the adoption order. Indexes less than 18 years old do not give the full name of the adoptive child, so purchasing those certificates probably would be a problem, but I believe more recent certificates do give the place of birth of the child as well. Recently though I know of an adopted child who was told to obtain their original birth certificate when applying for a passport here. Of course that is not a problem for the adopted child themselves; although now easier for other members of the family since the new Children's Act. But the marriage certificate should give the adoptive father's name and so might be the easiest way to answer your query. I have one where it states that the father is adoptive, and also gives the original birth surname of the child - so you might be lucky. Polly ----- Original Message ----- From: "June Willing via" <goons@rootsweb.com> To: "Brian Horridge" <brian.horridge@btinternet.com>; <goons@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, January 08, 2015 6:13 PM Subject: Re: [G] GRO Adoption Indexes (2nd attempt) Hi Brian Yes, I think you are correct in your understanding. The names are definitely the adoptive names, and I assume you would not be allowed to purchase a recent adoption entry, although I have not tried to do so. I have a handful of adoption index entries. Those I have identified have generally been because by chance I happened to make contact with one of the parents, who has told me. Don't forget there is nothing to stop you purchasing a recent marriage certificate, other than the expense. I have identified a few people that way, whose birth certificate I could not purchase. It is also worth bearing in mind that you may have no birth for someone marrying (or dying) in England and Wales because they were born elsewhere. I found a recent death in England, where the person turned out to have been born in "Rhodesia". June Willing Guild of One-Name Studies member no 2117 Willing/Willings One-Name Study http://one-name.org/name_profile/Willing/ Willing/Willings DNA Project http://www.familytreedna.com/public/Willing/ Dominicus One-Name Study http://one-name.org/name_profile/dominicus-2/ On 8 Jan 2015, at 17:55, Brian Horridge via wrote: > I sent this before but something went wrong with it so I'm re- > sending it. > > Can someone help me with my understanding of the GRO Adoption > indexes (from 1927 onwards). > > Am I correct in assuming that the names on the indexes are the > adopted name of the child and is an equivalent of a normal birth > certificate?? > > If so, is there anyway of identifying the adoptive parents without > buying the certificate (which I could probably not do as I am not > related to the individual). > > My assumption is based on finding GRO marriage entries for some but > without equivalent GRO birth (due to uncommon combination forenames). > > Many thanks > > Brian