1. Learn about adoption records

In Ontario, adoption records are made available to people who were involved in an adoption. It doesn't matter if the adoption is “open” or “closed”.

This means that you can ask the government for information about your adoption after you turn 18.

Your birth parents must wait until you turn 19 before they can ask the government for information about your adoption.

If you were born in Ontario and the adoption took place in Ontario, you can ask for 2 types of information: identifying information and non-identifying information.

Non-identifying information will not tell you the identities of your birth parents. But it can tell you about:

• the date of your adoption
• the social or medical history of your birth parents (without using their names)
• the name of the agency that handled your adoption
• the care you got before you were adopted

Identifying information will give you post-adoption birth information that can include:

• the name you were given at birth
• the names of your birth parents
• the date of your birth
• the hospital or other location where you were born
• the name of the doctor or midwife who delivered you

Getting this information does not give you the right to automatically contact your birth parents. In some cases, your birth parents can ask the government not to share their records or say they don't want to be contacted.