RTÉ Investigates again turns the spotlight on Ireland’s illegal adoptees revealing how 12 months later many are still searching for answers

Broadcast this Wednesday 16^th March at 9.35pm on RTÉ One

A year on from its initial documentary, RTÉ Investigates again turns the spotlight on Ireland’s historic illegal adoptions revealing how 12 months later many adoptees are still searching for answers and struggling to discover their true identities.

Commissioned in the wake of last year’s RTÉ programme, today the Government published a report on the historic practice of illegal adoptions in Ireland by the Special Rapporteur on Child Protection. The report recommendations included the establishment of a State inquiry and that those affected by illegal birth registrations should receive a State apology

In March last year, RTÉ Investigates’ acclaimed documentary told the story of some of the thousands of children who were illegally adopted in Ireland – innocent babies who were registered at birth as if they were the biological children of the parents who raised them. The investigation revealed some of the high-powered individuals who facilitated the once common practice, showed how despite being alerted to the issue the authorities did little to intervene and how many decades later those children, now adults, were still battling bureaucracy to find their identities. The programme featured moving accounts from some adoptees who are desperately still seeking to find out who they are.

For the last year RTÉ Investigates has continued to follow some of their stories – against the backdrop of the recently published Birth Information and Tracing Bill this latest documentary observes the struggle of illegal adoptees as they attempt to trace and connect with biological family members, their ongoing fight to access the most basic personal information and whether they believe the promised legislative change will help their unique situations.

Watch: RTÉ Investigates: Ireland’s Illegal Adoptions – Still Searching, this Wednesday at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.