Ontario’s new Adoption Disclosure Act that comes into effect September 1, 2007 will allow adult adoptees and natural parents to find out the identity of one another without the other’s consent.

Two attorneys have teamed up to challenge the constitutionality of the new act arguing that it violates the privacy rights of those individuals who wish to remain anonymous. In addition, one of the attorneys has a personal interest in the case because she found out that she was adopted when she was 14 years old.

There was an article in the Law Times at http://www.lawtimesnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1020&Itemid=82 on Monday, January 29th detailing the full story.

The article starts out telling the readers that a Toronto lawyer, Stacey L. Stevens found out she was adopted when she was 14 years old. The story was that she was legally adopted by her step father when her biological parents divorced and her mother remarried.

Ms. Stevens decided in 2002 to search for her natural father who was a firefighter. She was able to locate him through a colleague of his. When she phoned his home his wife answered the phone. She had learned from his wife that he had died six months before.

Ms. Stevens is now challenging the constitutionality of Ontario’s new Adoption Information Disclosure Act which like I mentioned before comes in effect September 1, 2007 and would allow natural parents and adoptees to find out the identity of the other.

Ms. Stevens and another attorney feel that the law violates the privacy rights of those who opted to remain anonymous. Ms. Stevens thought process is that what if she would have shown up at her natural father’s home 10 years earlier? Since her natural fathers wife didn’t know about Ms. Stevens what would this have done to his family?

More to follow in part 2.