Sir.–With the growing popularity of social network sites, it has become increasingly easy for adopted people to find members of their birth family and for birth relatives to find them. It is very tempting to just click that button and send a message.
However, there are risks that should be considered before doing this. For both adopted people and birth relatives, being contacted 'out of the blue' can be very traumatic.
To help people in these situations, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF) has produced ‘Ten Top Tips’ for adopted people; adoptive parents and birth relatives.
Advice is given on how to be safe using social media; what to think about before making contact and what to do if you are contacted. Information is also given about how to best trace and contact someone safely and legal rights.
The tips can be found, free of charge, on BAAF’s website adoptionsearch reunion.org.uk –Julia Feast, British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), Kirby Street, London.
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