Minutes of Adoption

South African adoptees are entitled to the Minutes of their adoption, which can prove invaluable, particularly if the adoption was arranged via the Department of Social or Child Welfare.

They contain detailed records of the case, as well as a copy of the interview conducted with the birthmother before the baby is born, and afterwards when the child is signed over. These records include the address at which the birthmother was staying prior to and immediately after the birth of the baby. You have to apply to the Registrar for them and the cost (as at February 2001) is R20 (twenty Rand). (Foreign postal orders in Sterling or US Dollars are accepted). Mrs. E. Weideman is the Registrar of Adoptions in Pretoria, and mail addressed personally to her, usually get a reply more quickly than if you just address letters to the Registrar.

With the Minutes of Adoption, you will receive a consent form from the Registrar, allowing her to search for your birth family. Other SA adoptees have advised that once you sign the form, the Registrar, who has access to all sorts of information from state archives, checks to see if there have been any enquiries lodged with her, from the birth family.

She also has the birth mother's identity number and access to all the census data. Typical of a civil service department anywhere in the world, it can take over six months before you get a reply. If she finds the birth mother, she contacts her and asks if the adoptee can have contact. Either the birth mother agrees fully and the adoptee can be given the birth mother's address, or the birth mother agrees to contact via the Registrar, all letters have to go through her and the adoptee never gets the birth mother's name or address.

Doing all this via the Registrar can be very frustrating for the adoptee, as it normally takes ages for the letters to be passed between the two parties, especially during holiday periods.

Note from Webperson: If anyone can advise whether this system is applicable to Zimbabwe and Zambia, please e-mail us with the details.