Currently, adoption mediation services are provided by Child Guidance Centers nationwide, as well as private mediation agencies (private mediation offices) licensed under the Act on the Protection of Children Related to Adoption Mediation by Private Agencies (Adoption Mediation Act).
Child Guidance Centers
Child Guidance Centers are administrative agencies established under the Child Welfare Act. Child welfare officers, child psychologists, and other specialized staff provide consultation and notices regarding children generally under 18 years of age. They are responsible for providing consultation on child development and upbringing; offering placements in temporary custody, foster care, infant homes, children’s homes, etc.; supporting the adoption process; and more.
Reference
Private Mediation Agencies and Others
Private Mediation Agencies
The Act on the Protection of Children Related to Adoption Mediation by Private Agencies (Adoption Mediation Act) came into effect in April 2018. While prior to this, adoption mediation services could be conducted following notification as a Type 2 social welfare service, adoption mediation now required the approval of the prefecture. As of April 1, 2024, a total of 22 offices nationwide have been licensed.
Mediation Businesses That Have Shut Down
When a business that had provided adoption mediation services shuts down, there is no longer a place for the adopted child to request or inquire about their records at the time of the adoption. The Adoption Mediation Act requires that when a private mediation agency shuts down, it must transfer its adoption records to the prefectural government or another licensed adoption agency. However, there are some businesses that shut down before the Act went into effect that have destroyed their records.
Until the Special Adoption System Was Established
Before the special adoption system was enacted in 1987, all adoptions were regular adoptions. Because the legal parent-child relationship between the birth parents and the adopted child persists under the regular adoption system, the adopted child could request a certificate of their birth parents’ family registers, and learn their birth parents’ addresses and about their households.
Prior to the enactment of the special adoption system, there were also some who engaged in the practice of “straw bed adoption” (adopting and raising a stranger’s child immediately after they are born by submitting a birth notification registering the birth of the child as one’s own).
Reference(in Japanese) 日本財団子どもたちに家庭をプロジェクト「4月4日養子の日 すべては赤ちゃんの命を救うために 産婦人科医・菊田昇医師の妻・菊田静江さんインタビュー」