I visited my Adoption Order many times growing up. My father kept in his bureau drawer along with the passports. (It's amended here to protect my birth mother's privacy.) In my order is my birth mother's name, my given name, my birthplace, and the date I was adopted by the Burton family. (They named me Annette but I later changed my first name to Nicole/Nicki.) The document includes the date the adoption agency became aware of me two weeks following my birthdate. It also shows that my adoption was finalized when I was five months old and that my parents paid an adoption processing fee of 1 pound, 3 shillings, approximately $5.00. Most American adoptees don't have the luxury of an Adoption Order; they have "revised" birth certificates. I'm grateful I had mine to keep me company the long years I waited before searching.
Nicole J. Burton