Private Intermediary Service
PAC-UK's Private Intermediary Service provides specialist support to adult adoptees and birth relatives who wish to reconnect with their relatives. The service also provides support to descendants and other relatives of deceased adult adoptees who wish to understand more about their relative’s birth history before adoption. Our expert team of highly skilled and experienced intermediaries and researchers will support you throughout the process. Our service includes a dedicated Private Intermediary Service Advice Line for advice, guidance and support and we also offer tracing and intermediary services.
- A specialist service
- Private Intermediary Service Advice Line
- Tracing and intermediary services
- Norcap Contact Register
- Meet our team
A specialist service
Phone 020 7284 5876 | Email intermediaryadvice@pac-uk.org
We provide specialist advice, guidance, tracing and intermediary services to support everyone affected by adoption. If you are an adult adoptee or a birth relative who wishes to reconnect with someone lost to adoption our Private Intermediary Service can:
- Trace who you are trying to find and make the first contact on your behalf
- Negotiate an outcome that balances your needs and those of others involved
- Where contact is wanted, support all parties through the initial stages
- Offer specialist guidance throughout (our intermediaries have a wealth of experience in this complex area)
- Provide support where contact is not wanted and discuss ‘what next’
One of the key benefits of using a PAC-UK intermediary is the careful preparation that’s undertaken. Making an approach in this way shows your relative that you have their welfare in mind; our intermediary will provide support not just to you, but also to the person approached who may not feel able to confide in anyone else.
In the first instance, we recommend you contact us (see dedicated number and mailbox below) for a discussion about your particular situation and for information about the costs of the service. You can also download our Private Intermediary Service leaflet.
The knowledge and professionalism of my PAC-UK Intermediary was remarkable. She kept me informed, calm and reassured throughout. My expectations were kept at a realistic level – I was excited by the journey and never given impossible hope. I got to meet my birth sisters and birth father. It was a joyous, life-affirming process from start to finish. I now have a peace I didn’t know I needed.Adult adoptee
Private Intermediary Service Advice Line
Our dedicated Private Intermediary Service Advice Line (020 7284 5876) supports adult adoptees, their descendants and birth relatives who wish to reconnect with their relatives - this line is open Monday 3.00pm to 5.00pm (excluding bank holidays) and Wednesday 6.00pm to 8.00pm. You can also email your enquiry to intermediaryadvice@pac-uk.org.
Thank you, to you all at PAC-UK. From the bottom of my heart and my mother’s. My mother finally has a chance to close the door on her demons and I have the opportunity (hopefully one day) to be a sister. You have changed our lives. I hope you all realise the huge impact you are making on each of the cases that you take on. You are all absolute angels.Birth relative
Tracing and intermediary services
Many adult adoptees want to find out more about the reasons for their adoption which can lead to them searching for and sometimes contacting their birth family. We can advise you about accessing your adoption records to enable you to make an informed decision about whether to look for your birth family.
Our experienced researchers can trace relatives, or someone closely related to them and we can make intermediary contact with them on your behalf giving a better chance of a positive outcome and giving you support through this emotional process.
This service offers preparation for possible contact and/or reunion with birth relatives, as well as initiation of contact with birth relatives, in accordance with relevant legislation. Please contact us for information on fees.
Norcap Contact Register
On 3 April 2020 services delivered by Adoption Services for Adults (ASFA), including the management of the Norcap Contact Register (NCR) transferred to Family Action, and will now be delivered by PAC-UK.
This means we can check the NCR for links on behalf of adult adoptees and their relatives. For all NCR enquiries email intermediaryadvice@pac-uk.org or call our Private Intermediary Service Advice Line on 020 7284 5876 (opening hours listed above).
Meet our team
We have a team of highly skilled and experienced intermediaries and researchers who are passionate about adoption search and reunion and are proud to work within an agency rated as ‘Outstanding’ in all areas by Ofsted. They prepare and support you through the intermediary process, make a sensitive approach on your behalf and facilitate contact where this is wanted.
Jan Shine
Lead Intermediary Supervisor and Associate Intermediary. Jan has been part of the Private Intermediary Service since April 2020, having previously worked with two other Voluntary Adoption Support Agencies, Norcap and Adoption Services for Adults. Together with another colleague in the team, Jan designs and delivers specialist training across the UK for professionals working with adults affected by adoption, and is a qualified counsellor and member of BACP. Alongside her intermediary work, Jan works as a counsellor in the PAC-UK London Clinical Team. Prior to working in the adoption field, Jan has a background in higher education where she worked as a self-employed HR/Learning and Development specialist.
Carolyn Jones
Associate Intermediary. Carolyn worked with two Voluntary Adoption Support Agencies in a variety of roles prior to joining PAC-UK and is a registered member of BACP.
Clare Cater
Intermediary Supervisor and Associate Intermediary. Clare has been with the service since 2020 and was previously a Volunteer Intermediary for Norcap.
Debbie Webb
Associate Intermediary. Debbie has worked as an intermediary for over 15 years, including working with Norcap and Adoption Services for Adults (ASFA) prior to joining PAC-UK. She has extensive experience of supporting adults on all sides of the adoption triangle and regularly supports people living overseas.
Jan Smaje
Associate Intermediary. Jan has been an intermediary for over 25 years. She also has knowledge of a few different languages which has been really helpful when working with reunions across countries!
Jean Milsted
Associate Intermediary. Jean has worked as an intermediary for many years, most recently as an Associate Intermediary with PAC-UK since 2020. Over the years, Jean has worked for two other Adoption Support Agencies and three Local Authorities.
Joanna Howe
Associate Intermediary. Joanna has been working as an intermediary with PAC-UK since 2021. She has a special in interest in adoption and is passionate about the service and the importance of the work. Joanna is also a qualified counsellor and volunteers with her local hospice as a bereavement counsellor, which she finds hugely rewarding.
Kathy Wilshaw
Researcher and Associate Intermediary. Kathy has worked in adoption for over 30 years, both in intermediary and research roles. She is a member of AGRA (Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives).
Lyndsey Marshall
Associate Intermediary. Having previously worked at PAC-UK in a senior leadership role, Lyndsey is delighted to be back at PAC-UK in this voluntary role. Lyndsey feels this role enables her to continue to contribute to the sector and the wider work of PAC-UK, supporting all parties affected by adoption and permanency.
Rachel Perrin
Associate Intermediary. Rachel has spent her working life in the performing arts and in education. She came to intermediary work through a long-standing personal interest in adoption and is passionate about reconnecting birth relatives.
Trish Sandwith
Associate Intermediary. Trish was an intermediary with Norcap before joining PAC-UK and has many years of experience with adoption. Trish also helps to facilitate an adoption support group which is open to all those affected by adoption. In the past, Trish has also been a Samaritan volunteer and was the manager of their London branch, before working for many years in the travel industry.
Yasmin Hewison
Intermediary Coordinator and Associate Intermediary. Yasmin’s main role is to co-ordinate our Private Intermediary Service and she has been part of the team since May 2020, having previously worked with another Voluntary Adoption Support Agency, Adoption Services for Adults. She has a special interest in adoption and is passionate about the service and providing the best possible support to applicants. She is also a qualified counsellor and volunteers with her local branch of Mind.
Jenny Brooks
Associate Intermediary. Jenny has a professional background in psychology, working for many years in post-16 and university education, training, and lifelong personal/emotional development. She has been drawn to intermediary work more recently through a personal interest in supporting others on their reconnection journey.
Sharon Lake
Associate Intermediary. Sharon joined our Private Intermediary Service team in 2023, bringing a professional history of over 20 years’ experience as a Social Worker and manager in safeguarding and in adoption and fostering services in children’s social care. Sharon is a BACP registered Adult Psychotherapeutic Counsellor and has worked with bereavement charities and organisations offering support to members of LGBTIQA+ communities. In 2023, Sharon completed training to offer post adoption counselling to adults and is keen to use her accumulated skills and experience with adults whose lives have been touched by adoption, having had the privilege to work in this area from a number of different perspectives.
Kathy Drake
Associate Intermediary. Kathy has a professional background in social work: for many years working as a children’s guardian and independent social worker. As well as her social work qualifications, she also has a Certificate in Counselling and has held specialised posts in fostering and adoption teams across London. The dynamic of adoption and the relationship between the parties involved has been a key area of interest throughout her career and Kathy is pleased that through her role at PAC-UK as an intermediary she will be working directly on these issues.
Monica Dallas
Associate Intermediary. Monica – who joined our Private Intermediary Service team in 2023 – has over 38 years experience as a registered Social Worker and Team Manager in children’s services, mainly specialising in the areas of fostering and adoption. She has also attained a number of qualifications over the years to support her various roles, including systemic practice, counselling and further education teaching. Monica currently sits as a panel member with two Regional Adoption Agencies (RAAs) and is keen to extend her interest in the area of adoption by applying the training completed with PAC-UK, to support those with lived experiences of adoption.
