Reduction of Harm

If changes are made to the present policy, we believe that harm may be reduced.

• Harm will be reduced if people are given opportunity for reunion specific counselling, so they will understand the dynamics involved for themselves and for their birth relative. When they know what to expect as they go through the process they may be reassured that what they are feeling is similar to what other people involved in potential reunions are experiencing. A counsellor who understands the dynamics involved in adoption will help the person to be realistic in what to expect. They will also have opportunity to consider how to add the new family connections into their current families while considering the feelings of all involved.

• Harm will be reduced if mediation is available. Given the conflicted feelings of grief and loss and of anticipation and of anxiety, it is helpful in some situations to provide the assistance of a third party who understands the push and pull feelings experienced by both and is able to interpret that for both. Sometimes it is easier for both to meet in a neutral place for the first time they meet with the assistance of a third party, so that they can each decide how and if they want to arrange future contact.

• Harm will be reduced if non indentifying information is provided in context with as much detailed information as possible. A summary of information is able to put the information into contact so that information specific to the birth parents is provided.

• Harm will also be reduced if assistance is given in adoption reunion searches. If the person is left with only a name and nothing else to go on, they will be tempted to just search the telephone book and contact anyone with the same last name. They will feel more and more rejected as the search goes on. They may also feel required to pay for someone to do a search for them, using methods that are available to them themselves or which may or may not be successful or welcomed by the other party. This may set up a negative dynamic from the beginning.

• Harm will be reduced if complete medical history information is made available at the time of adoption as is the usual practice in public adoption. Medical issues may come up later, and at the present time a serious medical search can be done as needed. But what do you say when your doctor asks about a history of cancer or heart problems in the family? Twenty or forty years ago when you were placed for adoption, the medical history might have showed that there were no issues. Since then someone in the family may have developed serious medical problems that you should be screened for! To reduce medical harm, we suggest that a central registry be set up where birth families or adoptive families can update medical information for each other so that each will have medical history information readily available as needed.

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Better Able to Make Contact

Some adoptees who do not already have their birth name, are only looking for the name and nothing else. The way the new policy is written will work for them. Similarly, when the birth parent is only looking for the adoptive name of their birth child, this policy will work for them. This may provide the adoptee with the link to their original identity and heritage that they always wondered about and the birth parent with the name they have always wondered about. Many people have no intention of actually looking for the other party at the time that they seek the name, but they know that if they ever want to do that, they have a place to start.

For the birth parents and adoptees who want to take this a step further, to actually making a connection, this policy has made a provision whereby this will be possible. If both parties have filed a contact preference with each leaving instructions about how they wish to be contacted, then contact can be made. Many adoptees feel the need to search for birth parents to fill the gaps in their identity concept. Birth parents may seek to find birth children, to address their grief or to make sure that their children had a good life. Some will be respectful of the bonds of affection and security built within the adoptive family. Others will hope that they will take on the role of being a parent.

The other group is not served by the way the policy is currently written. If the adoptee or the birth parent has not filed a contact preference, the person who is hoping to contact the other person is left with only a name. The person is left to do the search on their own. They have the option of registering with the current passive Adoption Disclosure Registry and wait for the other party to register. If both are registered, then a connection can be made for them.

The policy could allow for a new process to be set up where the registry would give generic information about how to conduct a search. They could give specific information which would allow them to narrow their search. This would avoid people blindly approaching random people who have similar last names.

Another option would be for the Ministry to find current information about where the other party is, make a connection to determine if they wish to be approached, and if so, pass the information on to the person who is searching. This is similar to the process of the former Adoption Disclosure Registry when it was formerly able to do a search on behalf of the adopted person.

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