Friday, May 30, 2008

New Ontario Adoption Disclosure Law In Effect

Reader Cathy Henderson was kind enough to provide an update on the status of Ontario's adoption disclosure amendments.

She advises that Bill 12, the Access to Adoption Records Act has passed Third Reading and received assent on May 14, 2008.

A news release at Canada News Wire provides more detail:

A new Ontario law will soon give adult adoptees and birth parents access to information that is currently sealed in their adoption records. For years, adoptees and birth parents have worked to get personal and family information from their original birth certificates and adoption records. Ontario's new law will help adoptees find out what their original names were, as well as who their birth parents were. It could also help birth parents learn the name their child was given after he or she was adopted.

The law includes a new disclosure veto...

Adoptees and birth parents can begin to apply for disclosure vetoes in September 2008. Adoptees and birth parents will be able to apply for information from their adoption records starting in June 2009....

Ontario is the fifth Canadian province to open its adoption records.

The new law replaces a previous Ontario adoption disclosure law which was struck down in September 2007.

- Garry J. Wise, Toronto

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1 comment:

Jenn Jilks said...

Interesting development, is it not? I have blogged about this, too.