New rules make it easier for Sask. adoptees, birth parents to access information

As of Jan. 1, it’s easier for adult adoptees and birth parents to access birth registration information in Saskatchewan.
 
“Adoptees, their adoptive families and their birth families have been asking us to improve access to birth registration information,” Social Services Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor said in a news release.
 
“These changes will help support individuals involved in an adoption in learning more about their history, and even potentially strengthening their connections to their culture and birth family, if this is something they wish to move forward with,” she added.
 
The province said the new regulations will improve access and replace the requirement of consent with the option for birth parents and adult adoptees to file a veto or a contact preference. A veto would prevent the release of identifying information, while a contact preference would indicate how a person wants to be contacted.
 
Birth registrations include information like names of listed birth parents, the name of the child at birth and the location of the birth, along with the hospital name.
 
The province encourages all adult adoptees and birth parents to call 1-800-667-7539 or go online to learn more about the regulation changes, find forms to apply for birth registration information or file a contact preference or veto.
 
Since 1922, there have been 37,000 adoptions in Saskatchewan.