On the first of June, Ontario will join the other Canadian Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Labrador, and Newfoundland in opening their adoption records. Although the government has given adoptees as well as birth parents the ability to opt-out of having their records disclosed, thus far only about 2500 (equally split between birth parents and adoptees) have done so.
As of April, nearly 1,100 people had requested “no contact,” while over 1,500 had requested conditions to any reunion. However, the vast majority seem willing to allow reunions to happen.
The new law gives both sides of an adoption equal access to birth information for the 250,000 adoptions registered in Ontario since 1921.
For more information, see Erin Anderson’s article in the May 27, 2009 edition of the Globe and Mail.
Note that Manitoba is considering following in Ontario’s footsteps on the issue. Although their adoption records are open from 1999, earlier records are more difficult to obtain. See the short article and audio file on the CJOB radio website.
