George* telephoned. He had been thinking for a while about getting his adoption information and had made a request in the past, but the paperwork had put him off.
When he realised that he did not need to fill out any forms he was relieved.
George lives in rural Victoria and was anxious about coming to Melbourne, so it was decided to meet at a café between Melbourne and where he lived.
He would be unlikely to know anyone, and a private space could be found.
Our Heritage Service team member booked a table in a private section of the café and prepared the paperwork once the records had been located.
It took 5 weeks from the phone call to the meeting.
When the time came to meet and share the records, George and the team member spent several hours together, discussing a range of things.
George spoke of his children, his work, his feelings when learning about his story and his mix of excitement and fear about the next steps.
It was decided that the team member would make contact again in a few weeks to give George time to digest and absorb the information, talk to his family and explore in his own mind what he needed.
He knew that he could call at any time before that.
After a few weeks, the team member called and George had questions about the possible next steps.
If we searched for his birth family, how would it be done?
What if they didn’t like each other?
What if they didn’t want to meet?
He did not want to disturb his birth family, but at the same time, was keen to learn more.
He wanted to know what support he would have and was assured that the Heritage Service could do the searching and the follow up if that was his wish.
*This is a true story about a real person. Some details such as names have been changed to respect the wishes of the person featured.
