You have a right to access information about your origins.
This information may include:
- the identity of your biological parents
- the circumstances of your birth, such as the time and place of your birth
- if you are a foundling - any information regarding the circumstances of your finding
important Foundlings are children who have been abandoned after their birth, either in a hospital or in another place, and have no proof of their origins.
- information about your childhood spent in care
If you are a minor adopted child and your adoptive parents agree you have a right to obtain info on your biological parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters. All these people have to consent with the disclosure of their identity. If you are an adopted child who has become an adult you have the right to obtain information from the Social Insurance Board (Sotsiaalkindlustusamet) concerning the fact of adoption.
Children separated from their natural family
If you have been in public care as a child, you may wish to find information about the identity of your foster or adoptive parents, or other persons who have taken you into their care, the places you have lived, the state of your health and other conditions of your upbringing.
Persons who have been in public care as children are recognized as having a special interest in receiving the information they need to understand their childhood and early development.
According to the Estonian law the local government must provide information to the child concerning their origin, the reasons for separation from family and subsequent care issues.
Access to information
Any information regarding your origins is your personal data and is thus protected by the right to a private life.
Read more generally about the right to access your own data.
Read more specifically about how to request information about your origins.