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Mothers tell a powerful story on adoption policy: Walker

ANDY WALKER awalker@pei.sympatico.ca Andy Walker is a P.E.I.-based political commentator. His column appears every week in the Journal Pioneer.

The Standing Committee on Health and Social Development heard powerful stories from two Island mothers recently about the need to bring Prince Edward Island’s adoption rules into the 21st century.

Charlotte MacAulay’s experience is one repeated all too often at a time when teenage pregnancy carried more of a social stigma. She found herself in a home for unwed mothers at age 17. Her son was taken from her almost immediately after birth and adopted by a family in Ontario.

She reminded the committee that while adoption may be a happy occasion for some, “every adoption begins with loss and that loss can often translate itself into trauma.” In her case, she decided to begin searching for her son about a decade ago. She said the decision was not easy, but she told the committee members, “I have spent a lot of years in grief. I think it is something that would help me heal.”

That brought her face-to-face with P.E.I.’s adoption laws. This province, in January of last year, became the last in the country to open its adoption records. Any adoptions occurring since then are done on the understanding they are open, meaning adult adoptees will have the ability to access specific identifying information contained on their original birth registration, including their birth name and the identity of their birth parent(s). Once an adopted person reaches the age of 19, birth parents can access a copy of the Adoption

Order (with adoptive parents’ names removed) which will contain the name given to the adoptee at the time of adoption.

However, for adoptions carried out before that point, both the birth parents and the adoptee have the option of indicating they do not want their information shared. In the event they consent to share the information, they can also state if they are open to contact from the other party.

Charlotte would like that changed to include full disclosure of all the adoption records held by the province. She would also like to see more co-operation among the provinces to make adoption information easier to obtain for both adult adoptees and birth parents in cases like hers, where the adoption involved more than one jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Mary MacDonald called for an inquiry into the province’s previous adoption practices. She also wants the province to apologize to young unmarried women like Charlotte who had their children taken away. While the mistakes of the past, unfortunately, can’t be undone, they must be recognized as wrong to ensure they are not repeated.

The committee is slated to make recommendations on possible changes to the Adoption Act legislature during the fall session in October. Hearing powerful stories like the ones from Charlotte and Mary is a vivid reminder each request for adoption information is not just a statistic. It is a story of real people who have often carried with them years of questions or guilt that are seeking answers and healing. Government has to help and should not be putting up any unnecessary roadblocks.

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2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

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