| Name | Party | Connection with adoption | Types of legislation supported for adult adoptee access to original birth certificate. Options given: i) unconditional, ii) with contact veto, iii) with disclosure veto) |
Types of legislation supported for birth parent access to adoptee's amended birth certificate. Options given: i) unconditional, ii) with contact veto, iii) with disclosure veto) |
Comments |
| Tom Mason | Green | My brother, sister and only two cousins are adopted. | with contact vetoes | with disclosure vetoes | Re: adoptee access to information: One of my siblings was able to contact their birth parents and has developed a wonderful relationship with them. The other sibling was able to get basic information but there was no contact information. It was a shame that they couldnt be contacted but at least some of the information was avaliable. It is understandable that some people might not want to be contacted on a difficult decision that they made earlier in life, that is their right.
Re: birthparent access to information: I agree that the information needs to be avaliable unless the adoptee does not wish so. Again, this is their right of privacy. I do think that having a complete record of family health history is important for the adoptee, if the birth parents do not wish to be contacted. This gives the adoptee more genetic information for their own families and will allow them to better understand what the future could be for their children. The more we find out about the importantance of genetic information the greater the need for this information. It will allow adoptee's to understand the history of their genetic's and risks for diseases such a heart disease and even things like artritis. I would also make changes on the system so that the birth parents do not feel like they are doing a horrible thing. At this time in their live they probably need allot of support, caring and understanding. This change in attitude will go along way with having birth parents that want to be contacted and provide very detailed family information. Please understand that I'm not up to date with adoption agency policies but witnessed what my siblings went through when researching their information and can only conclude that the birth parents were not open and forthcoming, which usually reflex the situation they were in. This topic is close to my heart, so feel free to contact me anytime in the future. |
| Monica Purdy | Liberal | Thank you kindly for your enquiry on behalf of the Coalition for Open Adoption Records (COAR). I appreciate your interest in the Liberal Party of Ontario's stance with respect to making adoption records accessible to adult adoptees and birth parents of adult adoptees.
It would be a pleasure to address the issue you raised, one that is important to many people in our province. As you are probably aware, private members’ bills pertaining to the issue were introduced during several previous legislative sessions. There has been an almost unanimous show of all-party support for changes to adoption disclosure procedures. I believe that, in the majority of cases, both adult adoptees and birth parents who have given their children up for adoption should be allowed access to their records. In my view, it is a question of human rights. I have enclosed the different segments of our platform for your review as I thought they might be of interest to you. For additional information, you may also wish to consult our website at www.choosechange.ca. My team and I look forward to the opportunity to implement our plan for real, positive change in Ontario. I look forward to the opportunity to continue this dialogue with you and your colleagues at COAR in the interests of adult adoptees and birth parents province-wide. |
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