Searching for Adoption Information in Ontario

If you were involved in an Ontario adoption, you can search for your birth name, the names of your birth parents, or your adopted child’s current name. This information is called post-adoption birth information.

You can also apply for a severe medical search, which could help in diagnosing or treating a severe mental or physical illness in yourself or your birth relatives.

If you don’t want to be contacted, you can also choose to protect your privacy.

To find out what kind of information you can search for, choose one of the following:

• I am an adopted person
• I am a birth parent
• I adopted a child
• I am a birth relative

I am an adopted person 

If you were adopted, you can:

• Apply for post-adoption birth information to get information from your birth and adoption records 
• File a disclosure veto to protect your privacy 
• File a no contact notice or notice of contact preference 
• Apply for non-identifying information 
• Apply for a severe medical search 
• Place your name on the Adoption Disclosure Register 
• Get a copy of your adoption order

I am a birth parent

If your child was adopted into another family, you can:

• Apply for post-adoption birth information to get more information from birth and adoption records
• File a disclosure veto to protect your privacy
• File a no contact notice or notice of contact preference
• Apply for non-identifying information
• Apply for a severe medical search
• Place your name on the Adoption Disclosure Register

I adopted a child

If you are an adoptive parent, you can:

• Apply for non-identifying information
• Apply for a severe medical search
• Apply for a copy of your child’s adoption order

I am a birth relative

If you are related to an adopted person through birth, you can:

• Apply for non-identifying information
• Apply for a severe medical search
• Place your name on the Adoption Disclosure Register

You can also check Frequently Asked Questions for answers to many adoption records questions.

Was this information always available?

No. Originally, no adoption records information was available.

However, in May 2008, the Ontario legislature passed an adoption information disclosure law called the Access to Adoption Records Act, 2008, which gives adopted adults and birth parents more rights to information and privacy.

Protecting your privacy

Adopted adults and birth parents have the option to protect the privacy of their post-adoption birth information.

Adopted adults and birth parents can file a disclosure veto to protect their privacy if the adoption was finalized before September 1, 2008. The veto will prevent the release of identifying post-adoption birth information about the person who filed the veto. If the adoption was finalized after September 1, 2008, you can file a no contact notice.

Adopted adults and birth parents can file a no contact notice if they do not want to be contacted, but are willing to have their identifying information released.

They can also file a notice of contact preference to specify how they would like to be contacted if they do not want to file a no contact notice or a disclosure veto.

Regulations also provide access to adoption information disclosure services where an adopted person has been adopted more than once.