Getting started – Key reminders

Introduction to Key Reminders for intermediary services for adopted people and birth relatives (“Key Reminders”), where an adoption order was made before 30th December 2005 (“Pre-commencement”)

Key Reminders is intended to assist adoption practitioners and managers to focus on some of the key areas of practice that adoption workers and managers need to consider at the start of providing intermediary services for adopted people and birth relatives.

However, this should not be read in isolation, but as one of the resources available for adoption workers and managers to help them provide good quality services. For example, the recently published ‘Adoption: Access to Information and Intermediary Services. A Practice Guide’, (published in May 2025).

The main purpose of Key Reminders is to highlight some essential elements that need to be in place to help registered agencies provide intermediary services. It is an accessible reference framework for people involved in this area of work and it offers a prompt for workers, to help them check that they are providing a service that will meet the needs of adopted people and birth relatives, and which is compliant with Section 98 of Adoption and Children Act 2002.

It follows through the main processes from the first referral/contact with the agency, through to the consultation meeting and contact with the birth relative/adopted person being sought. It includes links to other resources and information. However, it does not contain case examples as these can be accessed via The Practice Guide which provides a comprehensive range.

What are the limitations of Key Reminders?

Key Reminders does not provide an explicit step-by-step guide to providing intermediary services. It cannot address every situation, and the different types of consultation meetings you may need to have with an adopted person or birth relative. Inevitably there will be variation depending on how much information the adopted adult or birth relative already has in their possession and taking account of the type of agency offering the service, such as Appropriate Adoption Agency (AAA), Adoption Support Agency (ASA) or Intermediary Agency (IA). Key Reminders can be adapted to suit the different permutations and the range of services that adults affected by adoption birth may need.