The British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) has been alerted by families and social workers to a growing problem of adopted children using websites such as Facebook to seek out their birth families.
It says that such unsupported and unplanned moves by young people to reconnect with their birth families could put them at risk and disrupt families' lives.
Risks include a birth parent being unprepared or unable to deal with an approach from their child. An approach could also lead to distress for the parent, if, for example, they come from a religious community where sex outside of marriage is taboo and the birth was a secret.
David Holmes, BAAF chief executive, said: "We need to learn how to deal with social media in relation to contact issues with birth families. We strongly urge adoptive parents to familiarise themselves with social media, so they are able to talk to their children with confidence about all the issues."
He also called on adoption agencies to alert young people to the dangers of social media sites when helping them deal with their natural curiosity about their birth families.
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