BRITISH COLUMBIA

British Columbia NEWS

• November 4, 1996 Adoption Act, S.B.C. 1995, c. 48, is brought into force.

  • Permits Adult Adoptees (19 or older) and Birth Parents of adult adoptees (19 or older) to access a copy of the Registration of a Live Birth and Order of Adoption documents from the Vital Statistics Agency for a fee of $50.00
  • Sets up a No-Contact Declaration
  • Sets up a Birth Father Registry
  • Sets up an Openness Agreement Register
  • Complies with the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoptions.
  • Because of the Disclosure Veto this Act does not comply with the Equal Rights Provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 15 (1),   the Canadian Human Rights Act,   the B. C. Human Rights Code,  and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
  • To View/Download the Bill 51 in text format:  Adoption Act 1995

• To Access B.C. Adoption Records You May Wish To Contact:
  
  • The British Columbia Vital Statistics Agency  Information Line (1-800-663-8328)  or  (250) 952-2681
  • The B.C. Ministry for Children and Families  (250) 387-7750 
  • Within B. C. call 660-2421 and tell the operator you wish 387-7750 for a free call

PROVINCIAL SERVICES - to obtain identifying background information from adoption files, apply to:

IMPORTANT - Be sure to include a copy of the Original Birth Registration (ORB) document obtained from the Vital Statistics Agency.  If you do include the ORB, your information will be censored, with the birth family names blacked out.

The Adoption Reunion Registry  has a legislated mandate to provide search, intermediary and counselling services to those whose lives have been affected by a B.C. adoption. Their website http://adoptionreunion.net/ will tell you more about their services, outline step-by-step instructions for registering with them, and provide you with useful adoption-related information and links.  The fees for passive registration are  $25.00.  For an active search, the fee is $25.00 plus the client must pay the $50.00 fee to access the Vital Statistics documents plus $250.00 for the first search.

Self-help groups such as Parent Finders of Canada, Forget-Me-Not Society and the Adopted Parents Association of BC are available for information and assistance.  These groups have been operating in BC for many years and have had hands-on experience in assisting adult adoptees, adopting parents and birth relatives.  Parent Finders charges a fee of $25.00 for registration  in the Canadian Adoption Reunion Register (CARR) and provides assistance with search, reunion and support throughout the process.  The CARR data base now contains over 56,000 registrations.   Parent Finders has 33 groups across Canada.

NON-IDENTIFYING INFORMATION:  No fee for service with a 30 day delivery time is mandated under the Adoption Act.  However, due to staff cuts the waiting time for service delivery is now actually 4 - 6 months.     PLEASE NOTE: the Adoption Reunion Registry no longer provides background information sheets.

IDENTIFYING INFORMATION:  Either an adopted person (19 years of age or over) or a birth parent of an adoptee (19 or over) may file an application to receive a copy of  the Registration of a Live Birth and Order of Adoption documents from the Vital Statistics Agency (fee $50.00).   For all adoptions completed prior to November 4, 1996, access to identifying information is subject to a Disclosure Veto.  If a Disclosure Veto has NOT been placed then you will receive a copy of the Registration of a Live Birth (RLB) and the Order of Adoption (OA) documents.    Adoptees will receive their full birth name and the name of the birth mother, her age, where she was born and her address at the time of the birth.    A birth parent named on an RLB will receive a copy of the Registration of a Live Birth which they originally signed plus a copy of the Order of Adoption, and will then learn the new adopted name of the child they gave up for adoption.  They will not receive the full names of the adopting parents.

For all adoptions started on or after November 4, 1996, adopted persons 19 years of age or over and their birth parents have an unqualified right of access to the identifying information and are not subject to any disclosure veto.

If a Disclosure Veto has been filed, the surname of birthparents or the adoptee will be whited out and a $27.00 refund will be forwarded from VSA.  Any persons hitting a Disclosure Veto should contact Parent Finders for assistance.

If a No Contact Declaration has been filed, the party requesting identifying information will still receive the identifying information.  However, prior to receiving the identifying information, the applicant must sign a No Contact Declaration form guaranteeing they (or their agents) will not contact the person who has filed the No Contact Declaration. There are fines and possible jail terms connected to breaching a No Contact undertaking. 

After you have received the Registration of a Live Birth and Order of Adoption documents you must enclose a copy of each form in order to receive your background information in an identifying format.  Also enclose a copy of your current ID.  Applicants are advised to specifically request access to personal adoption information under the openness provisions of the Adoption Act - NOT under the provisions of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.  Parent Finders has a suggested letter form which will be provided on request to members who are ready to take this important step.  What you will receive is a photocopy of *everything* (50-60 pages) in the adoption file with identifying information.  Some particulars may be  blanked out under Section 22 of the FOI & PP Act if it is considered third party information.  If the recipient is not satisfied, they can appeal to have the information blanked out put back in into their copy of the file and Parent Finders can assist you in this appeal process.  

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Page last updated: April 01, 2008