Finding your roots, piecing together your story.
People who do not know their origins may feel the need to find out at a key moment in their childhood, adolescence or adulthood. Likewise, the wish to get back in touch with a family member with whom contact has been broken may arise at some point.
ISS Switzerland supports people with questions about intercountry adoption, access to information, the search for origins and tracing people. When a person being sought is located, ISS Switzerland can support making contact and restoring ties, if that person consents.
Search for origins
In Switzerland, every adopted person who has come of age has the right to obtain information about the identity of their birth parents. Before coming of age, an adopted child must show a legitimate interest to begin searching for their origins. ISS Switzerland supports people who wish to search for their origins abroad through its network of partners, and works with the cantonal central authorities where necessary. We can also carry out a search in Switzerland, with the support of the competent authorities, when the request comes from abroad.
Tracing people
When contact with a family member has been broken for family reasons, migration or other life events, ISS Switzerland can trace the person abroad through its network of partners.
If the person being sought is found, we can support making contact and, when everyone concerned consents, help restore family ties.
Adoption and kafala consultation
Intercountry adoption and kafala take place in a complex legal, ethical and social context. ISS Switzerland offers a specialised consultation for individuals and couples seeking information or support regarding an intercountry adoption or kafala project. This consultation is provided by an external expert and is available in French or English. It includes information on the 1993 Hague Convention on Protection of Children and Co-operation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption, as well as on the procedure and legislation.
IRC
The International Reference Centre for the Rights of Children Deprived of their Family (IRC), hosted by the ISS General Secretariat, provides resources, country analyses, training tools and a documentation centre on the rights of children deprived of their family.
Our services
Search for origins and tracing people in Switzerland and abroad
Guidance and support
Locating the person being sought
Restoring ties with the voluntary agreement of both parties
Ana finds her birth mother in Moldova
In spring 2024, ISS Switzerland received a mandate to search for origins in Moldova: Ana, adopted from Moldova to Switzerland in 2001, was looking for her birth parents. The parents’ names and dates of birth were known from the adoption documents. Ana herself had no memory of her first five years. Because of her personal situation, she is supported in her efforts by a deputy and followed by a psychologist, who initiated contact with ISS Switzerland.
ISS Switzerland passed the file, with all available documents, to its network partner in Moldova. The search made it possible to identify the birth mother.
The network partner was able to contact the mother and arrange a conversation confirming her identity. She herself had tried several times, without success, to find her daughter, not knowing that she had been adopted abroad. She had given birth while still a minor, in very difficult circumstances, and had therefore been forced to give up her child for adoption.
Mother and daughter then began exchanging letters, with the support of ISS Switzerland and the network partner. After a few letters, ISS Switzerland and its network partner organised and supervised two video calls between the daughter and her mother, with an interpreter to facilitate communication. Both calls were very moving; daughter and mother were both in tears. The mother said she had never felt so happy in her whole life. The calls continue, now without the involvement of ISS and its partner. A trip to Moldova is planned.
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