Adoption Information Disclosure Act
The Adoption Information Disclosure Act, formally An Act respecting the disclosure of information and records to adopted persons and birth parents, also known as Bill 183, is an Ontario (Canada) law regarding the disclosure of information between parties involved in adoptions. The Act was passed by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 2005 and put into force on September 17, 2007. Significant sections of it were quashed just two days later in a ruling by Judge Edward Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court. On November 13, 2007, the Ontario government announced that instead of appealing Belobaba's decision, it would opt to amend the act to contain a universal disclosure veto. It accordingly introduced the Access to Adoption Records Act on December 10, 2007, which passed third reading in May 2008 and took effect in September 2008. Background From 1927 until the mid-1980s, certain measures existed in Ontario to preserve anonymity between birth parents and adoptees; this was consistent with adoption practice elsewhere in Canada and the United States at that time. The practice was reduced but not eliminated for current adoptions, but there remained the question of what to do with existing adoption records: how does the right to information