Ontario’s Adoption Records are Open
If you were adopted in Ontario – or if your child was placed for adoption – you can receive information from your birth and adoption records through ServiceOntario.
In the past this information was not available. But in May 2008, the Ontario legislature passed a new adoption information disclosure law called the Access to Adoption Records Act, 2008.
This new law gives adopted adults and birth parents more rights to information and privacy.
Getting information
Adopted adults and birth parents can apply for information from birth and adoption records, if the adoption was registered in Ontario.
This information is called post-adoption birth information. It includes identifying information, like the original name of an adopted adult or the name of a birth parent.
With post-adoption birth information, adopted adults may be able to find out what their original names were, as well as the names of their birth parents. Birth parents may learn the name their child was given after he or she was adopted.
Protecting your privacy
Adopted adults and birth parents also have the option to protect the privacy of their post-adoption birth information. Adopted adults and birth parents can:
- file a notice of contact preference to specify how they would like to be contacted
- file a no contact notice if they do not want to be contacted, but are willing to have their identifying information released
- file a disclosure veto if the adoption was finalized before September 1, 2008. This will prevent identifying post-adoption birth information from being released.
Other types of information
Adopted persons, birth parents, adoptive parents and birth relatives may also be eligible for other information and services, like:
- Non-identifying information
- Severe medical searches
- Placing a name on the adoption disclosure register
- Copies of adoption orders