Finding your birth parents
If you were born in NZ and you're adopted, once you turn 20 you can request your original birth certificate, and any information about your adoption records held by the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki.
Getting your original birth certificate
Once you’re 20 you can get a copy of your original birth certificate, which shows the details of your birth before your adoption. This may include the details of both your birth mother and birth father.
It costs $15.30 to order a copy of your original birth certificate. This includes postage anywhere in the world.
Request for pre-adoptive New Zealand birth certificate form BDM451 (PDF 545KB)
Request for pre-adoptive New Zealand birth certificate form BDM451 accessible alternative (txt 12KB)
If you were adopted before 1 March 1986 and you’re living in New Zealand, your birth certificate won’t be sent directly to you. Instead you need to nominate an adoption counsellor who will receive it for you. You can choose either an independent counsellor or someone from the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki. A list of approved counsellors is included with the form.
When your counsellor receives your birth certificate they will contact you to talk about what you’d like to do next. Their role is to give you information, assistance and support. They can’t withhold any information you’re entitled to, and can often give you helpful advice about how to find and contact your biological parents.
If you live outside New Zealand you don’t need to choose a counsellor. Your birth certificate will be sent directly to you.
If you were adopted on or after 1 March 1986, you'll be offered counselling but you can ask for your birth certificate to be sent directly to you.
Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki, records
You can ask for any information the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki, has about your adoption.
To do this, contact an adoption social worker and give them a copy of your original birth certificate. They’ll find your adoption records and give you any details recorded at the time of your placement.
Freephone: 0508 326 459
Email: webadoption@mvcot.govt.nz
Contacting your birth parents
Once you have your original birth certificate, you might want to contact your birth parents.
Your counsellor can help you search for them and decide how you’d like to approach them. You may choose to contact your birth parents yourself, or ask someone to mediate.
If you were born using donor sperm or a donor egg, the identity of your donor may be recorded in the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (HART) Register. Finding a child or parent on the sperm and egg donor register
Finding your sperm or egg donor
Vetoes
If you were adopted before 1 March 1986, your birth parents can ask for a veto on your original birth certificate. This means your birth certificate won’t show the name of the birth parent that asked for a veto.
If there’s a veto on your birth certificate, you can talk to an adoption social worker. They can check if there’s a letter of explanation about the veto, or if any other information is available.
If you don’t want your name released
After you turn 20, your birth parents can ask the Ministry for Vulnerable Children, Oranga Tamariki, for more details about you. If you don’t want your birth parents to contact you, you can ask for a veto on your own information.
To do this, send a signed letter to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages saying that you don’t want information which could identify you to be released. In the letter, you need to say if you’d like counselling about your choice.
A veto lasts for 10 years, but you can remove it or renew it at any time.
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