How adoptions are registered
The Superintendent Registrar registers an adoption when we receive the Adoption Order from the Royal Court of Jersey.
You should allow 3 to 5 working days for the registration of your child’s adoption.
There is no fee for registering an adoption.
Your child will be given a new Social Security number. We’ll give this to you when you come in for their birth certificate.
We’ll also notify Revenue Jersey of the adoption. You don’t need to send them a copy of the adoption certificate. Find information on child tax allowances.
An adoption registration contains the adoptive details of a person. It does not include any information from the child’s original birth records.
If your child was born in Jersey, we’ll permanently seal their original birth records. This means:
- no person other than your child can access their original birth records
- no details relating to the birth of your child can be publicly accessed
Ordering an adoption certificate
We’re not provided with the adopting parents’ contact details. If you’re an adopting parent, you must email us at SIR@gov.je and provide:
- your name
- full contact details
- the number of adoption certificates you want to order
We’ll contact you when the certificates are ready for you to collect them and pay.
Copies of certificates
Because of their sensitive nature, we can only issue copies of adoption certificates to the adopted person or a close family member such as their:
- adoptive parents
- spouse
- children
These cost the same as standard certificates.
You should specify that you’re ordering from the Adopted Children Register to avoid delays.
Cost of an adoption certificate
There are 2 types of certificates.
Standard adoption certificate
| Includes all information recorded in our register. Used to support most official and all legal applications. | £33.95
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| Short adoption certificate | Basic document showing a person's name, date of birth and place of birth. Some organisations won't accept these as evidence of identity. They cannot be used for legal applications such as to apply to marry. | £11.32
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What is an adoption certificate
An adoption certificate replaces a birth certificate. It represents your legal identity and is your foundation legal identity document.
Your original birth certificate is no longer legally valid and its content is protected by law.
You should never be required to show your original birth certificate for any official or legal application.
If you’re asked to provide proof of identity, you must show your adoption certificate.
Accessing your original birth records
All original birth registrations of adopted children are sealed and access is strictly controlled.
Only the adopted person can request access and must first consult the Fostering and Adoption Team. You must be aged 18 or above.
To get a copy of your original birth certificate, contact the Fostering and Adoption Team.
Find more information on tracing your adoption records.
The Fostering and Adoption Team will let us know once they have approved the release of a copy of your original birth certificate.
If you place an order for a copy of your original birth certificate, it’ll be put on hold until approval is given.
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