International adoption country guide
France: adoption records and family tracing
Practical guidance for adoptees based in the UK who were adopted in France, were born there and adopted in the UK, or have a birth parent from there.
Research last refreshed: September 2026
Ask the Adoptee Rights Assistant
Start by identifying the records and rules that apply
Department, commune of birth, court, ASE service, adoption organisation, confidential-birth status and adoption date determine the process. Access to origins does not change civil status or legal parentage.
A written CNAOP or departmental enquiry can begin from abroad. Applicants should expect to provide a full birth certificate, identity document and, where relevant, the adoption judgment; translation, certification and delivery requirements should be checked.
Check the current procedure before applyingThis guide explains the likely process, but forms, contact details, eligibility and access rules can change. Check the linked source before sending identity documents or paying a fee.
Choose the situation that describes you
Adopted in France
What applies: Identify the date, place and legal form of the arrangement in France before choosing a records process.
How to look for records: Determine whether the case involved a confidential birth ('accouchement sous X'), status as a ward of the State, a domestic adoption, or an international adoption into France. Contact the departmental child-welfare service (ASE), court, civil registry and adoption body separately. Use CNAOP where confidential birth or protected birth parent identity falls within its remit.
How to look for family: CNAOP is the official national process for people born under a confidential-birth arrangement and certain adopted people or former wards of the State seeking protected birth parent identity. It may contact a birth parent to seek consent; disclosure depends on the statutory secrecy rules and the parent's position. The departmental ASE holding the file can help with the application. Other domestic or international adoptees should also request the departmental, court, civil registration and accredited-organisation or public-agency files. CNAOP is not a universal tracing service for every French adoption.
Important: Access to one repository does not provide the whole file; apply the rules for the legal status, date and place.
Born in France and brought to the UK to be adopted
What applies: Establish whether an order or care arrangement was made in France, in the UK, or both.
How to look for records: Determine whether the case involved a confidential birth ('accouchement sous X'), status as a ward of the State, a domestic adoption, or an international adoption into France. Contact the departmental child-welfare service (ASE), court, civil registry and adoption body separately. Use CNAOP where confidential birth or protected birth parent identity falls within its remit. Separately obtain the UK immigration, receiving-agency, court and adoption records.
How to look for family: CNAOP is the official national process for people born under a confidential-birth arrangement and certain adopted people or former wards of the State seeking protected birth parent identity. It may contact a birth parent to seek consent; disclosure depends on the statutory secrecy rules and the parent's position. The departmental ASE holding the file can help with the application. Other domestic or international adoptees should also request the departmental, court, civil registration and accredited-organisation or public-agency files. CNAOP is not a universal tracing service for every French adoption.
Important: Origin-country and UK records are separate; do not infer recognition or finalisation from nationality alone.
One parent was from France
What applies: Do not use an adoption record process merely because a parent was from France; start with the parent's verified identity and locality.
How to look for records: Use UK birth and adoption records first, then civil registration, archives and genealogy after obtaining the strongest available name, date and place.
How to look for family: Use consent-sensitive documentary and family finding procedures in the relevant country. Apply the specific to the country DNA caution.
Important: A parent's nationality does not itself create access to another person's adoption or civil records.
Records and family finding
Start with records
Determine whether the case involved a confidential birth ('accouchement sous X'), status as a ward of the State, a domestic adoption, or an international adoption into France. Contact the departmental child-welfare service (ASE), court, civil registry and adoption body separately. Use CNAOP where confidential birth or protected birth parent identity falls within its remit.
Looking for family
CNAOP is the official national process for people born under a confidential-birth arrangement and certain adopted people or former wards of the State seeking protected birth parent identity. It may contact a birth parent to seek consent; disclosure depends on the statutory secrecy rules and the parent's position. The departmental ASE holding the file can help with the application. Other domestic or international adoptees should also request the departmental, court, civil registration and accredited-organisation or public-agency files. CNAOP is not a universal tracing service for every French adoption.
DNA
Do not recommend a consumer genealogy DNA test to a person in France. Civil Code article 16-11 limits genetic identification to specified judicial, medical, scientific and other statutory purposes, and CNIL describes recreational tests as prohibited in France. A person elsewhere must still check the law where the sample is taken and data handled.
Peer support
ICAV's search-and-reunion page links to French-language guidance from La Voix des Adoptés for intercountry adoptees in France. This is independent peer guidance, not CNAOP, ASE, court or civil registry authority.
Practical next steps
If you have no namesObtain the adoption judgment and full birth certificate, identify the department and ASE file holder, and ask whether CNAOP has jurisdiction because the birth identity was protected.
If you have a name or placeUse the verified name and commune with the relevant ASE, civil registry and court. If identity is protected, use CNAOP rather than making an unexpected direct approach.
If the search has stalledAsk for a written explanation of whether secrecy, consent, missing records or the wrong holder is blocking access. Check departmental and adoption-body files separately; do not substitute a prohibited consumer DNA process in France.
Verified sources and resources
Official services and independent or adoptee-led resources are shown separately. Check current eligibility, security, costs and capacity before supplying personal information.
Official records and authorities
Legal framework for CNAOP and communication of protected origins information.
Things to check: Apply the current article text and the applicant's confidential-birth or ward status.
Adoptee-led peer and search resources
French-language intercountry-adoptee search guidance linked through La Voix des Adoptes.
Things to check: Independent peer guidance; not CNAOP, ASE, court or civil registry authority.
Other verified resources
Explaining the French prohibition and privacy risks affecting direct-to-consumer genealogy DNA tests.
Things to check: General regulatory guidance, not advice on a particular judicially authorised genetic examination.
Current public-service home for CNAOP and access-to-origins work.
Things to check: Use the current CNAOP application guidance and confirm contact details before sending sensitive records.
Limits on genetic identification and the reason consumer genealogy DNA should not be recommended in France.
Things to check: Legal advice may be needed for a particular judicial or cross-border situation.
CNAOP eligibility, application evidence, secrecy and consent branches, and departmental ASE support.
Things to check: Focused on confidential birth and related protected-origin cases; CNAOP is not a universal tracing process for every adoption.
This country guide provides general information, not legal advice or a tracing service. Records and family finding across borders can involve privacy, consent and personal safety considerations. Verify the current official procedure before acting.
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