The ''Access to Adoption Records Act'' (known before passage as Bill 12) is an

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

(Canada) law passed in 2008 regarding the disclosure of information between parties involved in adoptions. It is the successor to the 2005 '' Adoption Information Disclosure Act'', parts of which were struck down in 2007 in a ruling by Judge Edward Belobaba of the

Ontario Superior Court The Superior Court of Justice (French: ''Cour supérieure de justice'') is a superior court in Ontario. The Court sits in 52 locations across the province, including 17 Family Court locations, and consists of over 300 federally appointed judges. ...

. The bill passed third reading on May 14, 2008. The Act's full name is ''An Act to amend the Vital Statistics Act in relation to adoption information and to make consequential amendments to the Child and Family Services Act''. The most significant provision of the bill was the introduction of a ''disclosure veto'' to allow adoptees and birth parents involved in adoptions prior to September 1, 2008, to prevent the release of their names, which would otherwise be available upon request by any concerned party when the adoptee reaches the age of majority. Adoptions that occurred after September 1, 2008, are open which means that when requested, identifying information about either the adoptee (as long as he/she is over 18 years of age) or the birth parents can be shared. Either party can file a "No Contact Notice" which tells the other party that they do not want to be contacted (although identifying information is still released). If the other person tries to make contact either directly or indirectly after a "No Contact Notice" has been filed, they could be fined up to $50,000. In May 2009, the Ontario

Ministry of Community and Social Services The Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services is the ministry in Ontario, Canada responsible for services to children and youth, social services such as Welfare (financial aid), welfare, the Ontario Disability Support Program, and communi ...

revealed that 2,500 people had filed disclosure vetoes between September 1, 2008, and April 30, 2009, with figures split approximately 50-50 between adoptees and birth parents.

References

External links

COARArchived
2009-10-24), Coalition for Open Adoption Records - COAR Ontario (last updated May 2005)

Access to Adoption Records Act
{{Adopt Adoption law in Canada Ontario provincial legislation 2008 in Canadian law 2008 in Ontario