International adoption country guide
Romania: adoption records and family tracing
Practical guidance for adoptees based in the UK who were adopted in Romania, 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
Date and the legal process used for the original adoption matter; older intercountry files may sit with predecessor/local authorities.
ANPDCA's public-service listing says the service is free and is designed for adopted persons seeking information about their past and contact with biological family. Current submission channel/form requirements should be checked for current information; diaspora-facing Romanian government pages provide links and forms.
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 Romania
What applies: First establish the date and place of the legal adoption in Romania, and identify the original birth/civil, adoption, court, agency or welfare records separately.
How to look for records: Start with the Romanian adoption/origins authority process and the adoption documents already held; keep Romanian civil registration, adoption authority and any UK receiving/adoption file distinct.
How to look for family: Use ANPDCA's origins process first: it can provide information about the adoptee's past and facilitate contact with biological parents or relatives. If the official process identifies names/places but wider family reconstruction is still needed, move into Romanian civil registration, church, archive and genealogy research. Use adoptee peer support separately from official tracing.
Important: Do not assume that access to one Romania record repository gives access to the whole adoption file. Historic law and record survival may differ from the current adult process.
Born in Romania and brought to the UK to be adopted
What applies: First establish whether the legal adoption was completed in Romania or in the UK. If that is unknown, keep both procedures open rather than assuming where the adoption order was made.
How to look for records: Use the Romania birth/civil and before adoption record procedures described for this country, while separately tracing the UK adoption/receiving-agency, local authority, court and immigration trail.
How to look for family: Use ANPDCA's origins process first: it can provide information about the adoptee's past and facilitate contact with biological parents or relatives. If the official process identifies names/places but wider family reconstruction is still needed, move into Romanian civil registration, church, archive and genealogy research. Use adoptee peer support separately from official tracing.
Important: The original birth-country record and the later UK adoption/recognition record are different sources. Nationality of the adopters does not determine where the original birth record is held.
One parent was from Romania
What applies: Do not process this as an intercountry-adoption record case unless the user's own adoption occurred there. Start with the verified identity of the parent and the strongest known place/date in Romania.
How to look for records: Use civil registration, archives and genealogy resources for Romania once the parent's identity and locality are established. Adoption-specific authorities are relevant only if the parent's own adoption/history makes them so.
How to look for family: Use ANPDCA's origins process first: it can provide information about the adoptee's past and facilitate contact with biological parents or relatives. If the official process identifies names/places but wider family reconstruction is still needed, move into Romanian civil registration, church, archive and genealogy research. Use adoptee peer support separately from official tracing.
Important: A parent being from this country does not by itself create an entitlement to adoption records. Living-person privacy and civil registration access rules may restrict what can be obtained.
Records and family finding
Start with records
Start with the Romanian adoption/origins authority process and the adoption documents already held; keep Romanian civil registration, adoption authority and any UK receiving/adoption file distinct.
Looking for family
Use ANPDCA's origins process first: it can provide information about the adoptee's past and facilitate contact with biological parents or relatives. If the official process identifies names/places but wider family reconstruction is still needed, move into Romanian civil registration, church, archive and genealogy research. Use adoptee peer support separately from official tracing.
DNA
Use DNA as a separate source of evidence, not as proof by itself. Prefer multiple matches/shared match analysis plus documentary evidence. Country-specific DNA programmes are listed where verified.
Peer support
ICAV has hosted Romanian intercountry-adoptee peer events and can be used as a lead to adoptee community; live-check current Romanian-specific groups before referral.
Practical next steps
If you have no namesFirst establish the strongest available identifying information from adoption, birth, court, agency, welfare/institution and receiving-country records.
If you have a name or placeUse ANPDCA findings as the primary evidential base, then search Romanian civil/church/archive records for the locality and family name; keep official contact facilitation separate from independent family history research.
If the search has stalledRe-check alternate repositories and historic jurisdictions; consider DNA and verified specialist/peer organisations; record whether a file was not found, destroyed or transferred.
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.
Adoptee-led peer and search resources
Peer connection for Romanian intercountry adoptees and discussion of identity/paperwork
Things to check: Event page is evidence of peer activity, not necessarily a standing Romanian tracing service
Other verified resources
Origins support, biological-relative contact, forms and guidance
Things to check: Current procedure must be checked; historic record holders vary
Official request for information about own past and facilitation of contact with biological family
Things to check: Portal says current service is in-person; diaspora/ANPDCA forms and channels should be checked for current information before advising an overseas applicant
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.
← Return to all researched countries