As mentioned above, part of the process of applying for post-adoption information or filing a no-contact notice includes the fact that adoptees must wait until they have reached the age of 18, and birth parents must wait until the adoptee has reached the age of 19 (allowing the adoptee the full 19th year to make their decision about whether they would like to be contacted or not). This is based on the age of 18 being the age of majority here in Canada and the associated assumption that a child under the age of 18 is unable to make informed decisions about important life matters as well as the assumption that a young adult becomes capable of doing so at the age of 18.
There is academic evidence and widespread public acceptance to support both of these assumptions.
"The law's concept of the family rests on a presumption that parents possess what a child lacks in maturity, experience, and capacity for judgment required for making life's difficult decisions.... Most children, even in adolescence, simply are not able to make sound judgments concerning many decisions..” (Weithorn and Campbell, p. 1)
However there is also academic evidence that would show that both of these assumptions are faulty in many situations. The late justice William O. Douglas, in the case of Wisconsin v. Yoder, used evidence from major developmental theorists to show that the ability of a 14 year old to make informed decisions relating to life events is similar to that of an adult (Weithorn and Campbell:1989), and in their study, Weithorn and Campbell found that “minors aged 14 were found to demonstrate a level of competency equivalent to that of adults” (Weithorn and Campbell:1989).
This supports the idea that there are some “mature minors”, who are as, if not more, capable of making major life decisions before the age of 18, and raises the question as to whether they should have to wait until a pre-determined age to attempt to make contact with their birth parent.
Also, there has been some research conducted that would support the notion that the age of 18 may not be an ideal age for many adoptees to be making a decision that will have drastic effects on their life. Craig Bennett and Abigail Baird noted in their article Anatomical Changes in the Emerging Brain that;
“The transition from adolescence to adulthood is known to be a time of tremendous change. Between the ages of 18 and 25, most young adults move away from their parents or guardians and become self supported for the first time [Cohen et al., [2003]]. Marked shifts in the romantic relationships, risk-taking behavior, insight, and worldviews of young adults have been well documented during this time [Arnett, [2000]]. Such research has demonstrated convincingly that a person continues to mature behaviorally between the ages of 18 and 25” Bennet and Baird: 2005)
This raises the question of whether an 18 year old already undergoing major change in their life should be reasonably expected to be able to make this decision. These two pieces certainly do not necessarily show that a change needs to be made in relation to the age of majority at which these decisions are made, however, we feel that since there is evidence to support either side, it should be a topic that is open for discussion. Please feel free to leave comments or contact us if you have any ideas around this issue.
L.
