ted within ten working days of the adoption ceremony, i.e. the ceremony to celebrate the making of the adoption order. Later life letter: AAR 35 5.51. A social worker who knows the child, preferably the child’s social worker, should prepare the later life letter for the child. The letter should explain the child’s history from birth and be sufficiently detailed so that in the future the adolescent child, or young adult, will have factual details about their birth family and their life before 108 adoption, and so be able to understand why they could not live with their birth family, and why they were adopted. The letter should be given to the prospective adopter within ten working days of the adoption ceremony, i.e. the ceremony to celebrate the making of the adoption order. 5.52. The child’s birth family could be asked by the agency to write either their own letters to the child or contributions to the agency’s letter, should the agency consider either of these steps appropriate. 109 Chapter 6: Safeguarding and permitting access to adoption records This part of the guidance explains the duties of an adoption agency in respect of storing, safeguarding and providing access to its adoption case records during the period up to the making of an adoption order (regulations 39-40 of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005 (AAR)). Sections 56-65 of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (the Act) and Disclosure of Adoption Information (Post-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2005 (AIR) cover the agency’s duties in respect of its adoption records after the making of an adoption order. Guidance to those provisions is largely contained in chapter 11. The provisions with regard to safe storage and obligatory disclosure are, however, matched in both the AAR and the AIR and the guidance 