Through this blog, we have had the opportunity to look at the history of adoption disclosure as it evolved to the Access to Adoption Records Act (Vital Statistics Statute Law Amendment), 2007 (AARA) and to examine the changes that were made in this legislation as implemented on May 14, 2008. We have examined the ideological issues around adoption disclosure and have looked at the ways that theoretical framework can be used to examine the concepts surrounding disclosure and the new contact notices and contact preferences. We have provided an overview of the current policy, and a history of how the amendments came to be. The systems involved were identified as the agencies which facilitate adoptions, and the adoption triangle (adoptee, birth parent and adoptive parents), and have examined how the recent changes will affect the people involved in the adoption triangle. We have developed a deeper understanding of the policy, with it positive and negative aspects, and have developed a hypothetical policy through which we hope we have addressed the main concerns identified in the current policy. We identified several items upon which we wanted to make recommendations, as follows;
- Maintenance of the veto for adoption orders completed after September 1, 2008
- Guidelines regulating the consistency of medical information
- provision of pre-reunion counselling
- provision of reunion mediation
- provision of contact search
- guidelines for non-identifying information provided
- Mandatory updating of medical information in terms of genetic medical conditions
We elaborated on these recommendations and discussed ways to go about implementing the new policy, including speaking with and developing connections community partners, hearing stakeholder voices through media, and enlisting government allies.
We have outlined the reasons that we feel these changes need to be made to the current policy and have included recommendations for implementation. Throughout the process we have sought and responded to criticisms and comments from the wider community and have greatly appreciated the input that we have received from them. These kind of projects certainly cannot progress on their own without the input and support of those passionate about the issues.
It has been an interesting and educational experience and we feel that we’ve gained a much more thorough knowledge of the issues around creating and implementing policy that meets the various and conflicting needs of stakeholders. We feel that we have a better understanding of how ideologies and personal bias can influence the outcome of policy development, and the associated need for more than one voice to be heard in development and implementation.
We want to thank everyone who has contributed to the development of the blog, either by educating us, expressing dissenting positions (which we can learn greatly from!) or working collaboratively with us in the development of a new policy response. We really appreciate all of your input and patience with us as we examined all of the issues brought forward.
- Maintenance of the veto for adoption orders completed after September 1, 2008
- Guidelines regulating the consistency of medical information
- provision of pre-reunion counselling
- provision of reunion mediation
- provision of contact search
- guidelines for non-identifying information provided
- Mandatory updating of medical information in terms of genetic medical conditions
We elaborated on these recommendations and discussed ways to go about implementing the new policy, including speaking with and developing connections community partners, hearing stakeholder voices through media, and enlisting government allies.
We have outlined the reasons that we feel these changes need to be made to the current policy and have included recommendations for implementation. Throughout the process we have sought and responded to criticisms and comments from the wider community and have greatly appreciated the input that we have received from them. These kind of projects certainly cannot progress on their own without the input and support of those passionate about the issues.
It has been an interesting and educational experience and we feel that we’ve gained a much more thorough knowledge of the issues around creating and implementing policy that meets the various and conflicting needs of stakeholders. We feel that we have a better understanding of how ideologies and personal bias can influence the outcome of policy development, and the associated need for more than one voice to be heard in development and implementation.
We want to thank everyone who has contributed to the development of the blog, either by educating us, expressing dissenting positions (which we can learn greatly from!) or working collaboratively with us in the development of a new policy response. We really appreciate all of your input and patience with us as we examined all of the issues brought forward.
