OUR HISTORY IN FRANCE
Our committees in Lille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Marseille and Lyon have been welcoming children born anonymously for many years.
Voluntary separation by the mother was made legally irrevocable on 11 July 1966, by the law on full adoption.
Today, anonymous adoptions through our agency are very rare, but birth parent research by adults is common. We do our utmost to support their research and ensure it runs as smoothly as possible.
A biological mother who cannot make her child happy at a precise moment in his or her life is free to entrust him/her to an AAA or to child welfare services. This choice is often made to provide a better chance for the child’s future than they are able to offer.
Birth mothers must be in touch with COFA during pregnancy so that we can support their choices until the birth of their child. Babies are then entrusted to a foster mother for two months, during which period mothers may change their mind, before being adopted by a family who can’t wait to cherish their child with all their hearts.
“Make small decisions with your head and important ones with your heart.”
H. Jackson Brown
BIRTH PARENT RESEARCH
A child’s mother can write a letter revealing her identity and/or non-identifying information in a sealed envelope (for example, about her health and the father’s health, the child’s origins and circumstances surrounding the birth). The sealed envelope is stored by the department president or by the AAA.
Upon reaching their legal age, children may request to find out about their mother, and if she has given her consent, the confidentiality of parentage may be lifted.
By email
cnaop-secr[@]sante.gouv.fr
The child (or his/her legal representative) must include documents proving her identity (full copy of the birth certificate, or a copy of the adoption judgment with proof of identity).
The request must be accompanied by a completed questionnaire.
