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 the child you placed for adoption after the child turns 19 years old.

An adopted child can ask the government for information about their adoption after they turn 18.

If your child was 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 reveal your child’s identity. It can tell you:

• the date of their adoption
• the name of the agency that handled their adoption
• the care they got before they were placed with an adoptive family

Identifying information reveals your child’s identity. It can tell you information about:

• their given name and surname at birth or after adoption
• the names of their adoptive parents

Getting this information doesn’t give you the right to automatically contact your child. In some cases, your child can ask the government not to share their records and say they do not want to be contacted.