doption and Children Act 2002 (the Act) on 30 December 2005, the provisions in section 51 of the Adoption Act 1976 regarding access to records were retained with some modifications. A framework for facilitating contact between adopted adults and their adult birth relatives was introduced under section 98 of the Act and the Adoption Information and Intermediary Services (Pre-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2005 (ISR), giving these people a right to request an intermediary service from intermediary agencies. The Adoption Contact Register, originally established in 1991, was retained with some amendments. See chapter 12. 10.2. The framework under section 98 and the ISR provides adopted adults and their adult birth relatives with a right to apply to an intermediary agency for an intermediary service. Most birth relatives, including birth parents, will have little or no information that enables them to seek to trace a person from whom they have been separated by adoption and establish if they wish to have contact. This framework enables an intermediary agency to seek information from a range of sources that it may use to establish the current identity of an adopted adult, to trace them, and subject to obtaining their informed consent, disclose identifying information about them to the birth relative and facilitate contact. The intermediary agency will have an important role to play in providing specialist support and advice to all parties throughout this process. 10.3. An intermediary service is provided to assist adopted adults and their birth relatives obtain the information they need to trace a relative and establish contact 186 with them, i.e. in relation to an adopted person, any person who (but for their adoption) would be related to them by full and half-blood, or