WHEREAS in Ontario adopted adults are denied a right available to all non-adoptees, that is, the unrestricted right to identifying information concerning their family of origin;

WHEREAS Canada has ratified standards of civil and human rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the UN Declaration of Human Rights and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child;

WHEREAS these rights are denied to persons affected by the secrecy provisions in the adoption sections of the Child and Family Services Act and other Acts of the Province of Ontario;

WHEREAS research in other jurisdictions has demonstrated that disclosure does not cause harm, that access to such information is beneficial to adult adoptees, adoptive parents and birth parents; and that birth parents rarely requested or were promised anonymity;

WE, the undersigned petition the Legislature of Ontario to enact revision of the Child and Family Service Act and other Acts to :

• Permit adult adoptees unrestricted access to full personal identifying birth information;
• Permit birth parents, grandparents and siblings access to the adopted person’s amended birth certificate when the adopted person reaches age 18
• Permit adoptive parents unrestricted access to identifying birth information of their minor children;
• Allow adopted persons and birth relatives to file a contact veto restricting contact by the searching party;
• Replace mandatory reunion counseling with optional counseling;

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Please return to the Coalition for Open Adoption Records, 462 Ossington Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M6G 3T2.