Whāngai is when a tamaiti (child) is raised by someone who is not their birth parents. Often someone who is another whānau member, like grandparents.
Traditionally, the practice of whāngai was to strengthen whānau, hapū and iwi relationships and honour the responsibility that whānau had.
The tamaiti whāngai may know their birth parents and their whāngai parents. The wider whānau will usually have been involved in the whāngai decision.
Whāngai can be a formal legal adoption, or based on traditional tikanga practices, or both.
If you were raised as a tamaiti (child) whāngai, there will be records if the government was involved.
Learn about requesting records about your whāngai or whanau care arrangement from government agencies.
Foster care or fostering is when Oranga Tamariki (or a previous organisation) arranges for a child to be looked after by someone (usually someone who is not the child’s birth parent).
Fostering can be short-term, long-term or permanent.
A child can be fostered by a whānau member or family friend. This is sometimes called whānau care.
If you were fostered, you can request records from Oranga Tamariki.
Adoption normally means a ‘formal adoption’. Which is when the Family Court makes an adoption order.
For formal adoptions, an adoption order is created by the Family Court, and then registered by Births, Deaths and Marriages.
A whāngai arrangement can become a formal adoption if the whāngai parents apply for a formal adoption.
If you were adopted in Aotearoa New Zealand, you can:
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This Easy Read is about how you can ask for records of:
Here records means the information an organisation has kept / made about a person.
Information about getting adoption records is in the section 'Getting adoption records'.
Information about getting whāngai records is in the section 'Getting whāngai records'.
Information about getting foster and whānau care records is in the section 'Getting foster and whānau care records'.
Adoption means people who are not the birth parents:
and
Birth parents are the parents when a child is born.
Adoption in Aotearoa New Zealand normally means formal adoption.
A formal adoption is when the Family Court makes an adoption order.
The Family Court is a court that takes care of things like:
An adoption order is the official document that:
After the formal adoption is made by the Family Court it is listed by Births Deaths and Marriages.
Births Deaths and Marriages is the Government agency that keeps all the official information about when people:
There are ways to get your records if you were adopted in Aotearoa New Zealand.
You can ask for your pre-adoptive birth certificate from Births, Deaths and Marriages.
A pre-adoptive birth certificate has information on it like your:
You can find out how to get your pre-adoptive birth certificate.
This webpage has information in Easy Read.
You can find out how you can ask for your adoption records from Oranga Tamariki.
You can find out how you can ask for your adoption records from the Family Court.
This webpage is not in Easy Read.
Whāngai is customary Māori adoption.
Customary means of a group of people like Māori doing something using their:
The people who raise the tamaiti / child are often whānau / family members like grandparents.
Whāngai is used to make strong relationships between:
The tamaiti / child may know their:
Many people in the whānau / family will usually have been part of the whāngai decision.
Whāngai can be:
or
If the government was part of the whāngai there will be records of your:
You can find more information about asking for your whāngai records.
Foster care / fostering is when Oranga Tamariki arranges for a child to be looked after by someone.
The person who looks after the child is usually not the birth parent of the child.
Oranga Tamariki calls this caregiving.
Foster care / fostering can be:
A child can also be fostered by a:
This is called whānau care.
You can find information about getting your foster care / fostering records from Oranga Tamariki.
This webpage has some information in Easy Read.
Asking for your records can make you feel all sorts of things.
It can be good to have someone to talk to about it.
You can talk to your:
Find out what support you can get.
More Easy Read information is available.
Click here to visit our Easy Read library webpage.
Find out who created this EasyRead information.