Keeping Adoption Secret from the Adoptee

Wednesday/January30/08

Not so sure this is a good idea.

Alberta, Canada, made the news today with a story from the Edmonton Journal that an adoptive family obtained an order allowing the family to keep secret from their adoptive child the fact that the child is adopted. The paper says:

That feature is in a section of the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act that lets adoptive families apply for a veto so biological parents can't see the adoptees' files. The veto can be used if the adoptive parents have not told their adoptees they are adopted, and where enlightening them "would be extremely detrimental to the adopted person."

Adoption records in Alberta have been open to adult adoptees and their biological parents since 2004. The object of the law has been to allow adoptees and their biological parents to learn about each other and possibly to reunite.

But what about the instance where an adopted child might have genetic indicators of disease? Would it be right to withhold medical information from that person? It is for that reason that adoption proceedings (other than within a family, such as a stepparent adoption or adoption by grandparents) invariably require medical information about the child to be furnished.

Tags: secret, medical