Abstract: | Over 70 thousand adults who were adopted in out-of-family adoptions have received their original birth records from ONS since The Children Act, 1975 (Section 26) first enabled them to do so. This article describes how estimates of these adoptees have been made by their year of birth and year of receiving their birth record. It then analyses the trends, with particular reference to the theory that adoption can cause deep-seated psychological problems, setting them within the historical context of adoption in this century. |