ADOPTED people searching for their birth mothers are being required by a Cork adoption society to sign a declaration that they will unconditionally accept what they are told. They must also agree not to make unfair demands".
Meanwhile, the Council of Irish Adoption Agencies says adoption societies are legally barred from identifying birth mothers and have been pressing unsuccessfully for years for a change in the law.
The declaration of unconditional acceptance is sought by the Sacred Heart Adoption Society in Cork which also has a policy of not identifying the graves of deceased birth parents a spokeswoman told The Irish Times.
People are asked to sign a form which states. I have sought the assistance of Sister Sarto of the Sacred Heart Adoption Society, Blackrock, Cork to assist me in making contact with my birth mother. I will accept unconditionally the outcome of her findings and will make no unfair demands on her time thereafter a Sister Sarto told The Irish Times that the declaration had been "compiled by a legal adviser". The society spends a lot of time looking for families of origin only to find that the family has died out she said but a person does not always accept that the society has done its best.
People seeking to trace their birth parents are asked to put their request in writing and to visit the society. Each is given a counselling session. Sister Sarto said that in 80 per cent of cases the society succeeds in tracing the birth mother.
If the birth mother has died we can't identify the grave because it's identifying the family and legislation would be needed to change this she said.
Ms Mary Lillis chairwoman of the Council of Irish Adoption Agencies said she understood that some other adoption societies sought declarations from birth mothers of the kind used by the Sacred Heart Adoption Society.
Adoption societies were helping people to trace their birth mothers despite the possibility, that in doing so they might be in breach of adoption legislation. The council has been writing to Ministers or ears asking that adopted people be given a legal right to their original birth certificates, but to no avail.