Genealogy Chat

Hi there,
Could anyone help me with purchasing a birth certificate with no fathers name on it.
I have most details ,mothers surname the persons name and date of birth.
He was adopted after birth,he said he has two certificates,one with birth mother and one with adopted parents. I said i would try and help as he is my cousin and since his fathers passing recently he has only just found that his birth father was his adopted fathers brother ( apparently ) He can't remember where certificates are and i can not seem to purchase without a fathers name on original ( i'm guseesing fathers name wasn't on there..TIA

If he was born in England or Wales, before the end of 1993, look for his BIRTH cert here:

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

Then order a copy here (you need to register with the site):
https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/menu.asp

If born later than that, look him up on Acestry or FMP - or if you don't have a sub to either of those, tell us his name, age, and the place of birth, and we'll have a look


Any subsequent cert under his adoptive name (ie - an Adoptiion Certificate) isn't available to us online.
He will have to apply for a copy, for a fee.
Instructions here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adoption-certificate-application-form


If he wasn't born in England or Wales, let us know where he was born.

Thank you, do i need to subscribe to this site?

If you mean the GRO site, it's free to register, but of course you pay for the certificate when you order it.

FreeBMD is, as the name suggests, free.

When i was trying to order certificate it asks for fathers name and mothers first name. Unfortunately we have neither

Please remove his date of birth , as he is living - danger of identity theft.

I'll send you a PM with the birth cert details (which you could find on FreeBMD).
Watch for an email firm GR.

Thank you so much, have removed last post..

I've looked at the order form, and yes, for such a relatively recent birth, it does ask for both parents' names.

You can email , write, or phone them, explain the situation, and ask what to do

[email protected]

Their website says -
"You can contact us by telephone on +44 (0)300 123 1837 (8am to 8pm Monday to Friday. Saturday 9am to 4pm). Calls to 0300 numbers cost no more that calls to UK numbers starting 01 and 02 and should be part of any inclusive minutes that apply to your provider and call package. Please note your call may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes."

Letter
You can contact us by post by writing to :

Certificate Services Section
General Register Office
PO Box 2
SOUTHPORT
PR8 2JD

If you would like to order a certificate by post you can download an application form and guidance note via GOV.UK - or write to GRO at the address shown above confirming the number and type of application forms required."





I take it you already have the cert details, if you've tried to order it, so won't send the private message! [ EDIT Well, I've sent it anyway, just in case.]

Thank you for your help,,
Yes i replied to message before seeing this.
I will email them now and wait for hopeful reply in the week..

You are a gem!!!

If the original birth certificate doesn’t have a fathers name in it then won’t it let you leave it blank ?

Father's forename and surname, and mother's forename and maiden surname are required fields, marked by a red asterisk.

But further from the website -

"You will be prompted to supply further details for more recent births and deaths (within the last 50 years) when you complete the online application form.
If you are unable to complete the mandatory fields, then you will not be able to apply online and you will need to follow our telephone ordering process. Please contact us on +44(0) 300 123 1837 for further information."

This restriction is to try to prevent identity theft