IMPORTANT: Please read through this guide thoroughly before starting the application process. Incomplete information may result in delays in processing your request.
If you are applying as an adopted person, please refer to the Adopted Person’s Guide. If you require additional information about the adoption information disclosure reforms taking place in Ontario, such as information about a Disclosure Veto, No Contact Notice or a Notice of Contact Preference, please see our website www.ServiceOntario.ca.
If your child was placed for adoption and is now 19 years of age or older, and you believe the birth and adoption were registered in Ontario, you may apply for Post Adoption Birth Information. If you are eligible, you may be entitled to receive information about the adopted person and yourself contained in the following documents:
These documents may contain identifying information about the adopted person, such as his or her adoptive name. Only information pertaining to the birth parent and the adopted person will be included. Information such as the adoptive parents’ names will not be disclosed.
Please read prior to submitting your application.
If the adopted person has filed a Disclosure Veto which is in effect, the Registrar General is prohibited from disclosing the adopted person’s identifying information to you. If you, as the birth parent, request and would otherwise be entitled to the adopted person’s identifying information, a copy of any Statement completed by the adopted person, containing any medical or family history, or reasons for not wanting his or her information disclosed to you, will be given to you.
If the adopted person has filed a No Contact Notice which is in effect, and you, as the birth parent request and are entitled to his or her identifying information, no information can be released to you until you have signed a written agreement stating you will not contact or attempt to contact him or her. Once you have signed and returned the agreement, a copy of any statement completed by the adopted person, containing any medical or family history, or reasons for not wanting to be contacted, will be given to you along with the adopted person’s birth registration(s) and registered adoption order.
Note: Under the Vital Statistics Act, you are prohibited from directly or indirectly contacting or attempting to contact the adopted person who has filed a No Contact Notice. If you are convicted of violating a No Contact Notice, you may be subject to a fine of up to $50,000.
If the adopted person has filed a Notice of Contact Preference which is in effect, and you, as the birth parent request and are entitled to his or her identifying information, a copy of the statement outlining the adopted person’s preferences on how he or she wishes to be contacted will be given to you along with the adopted person’s birth registration(s) and registered adoption order.
Completing an Application for Post Adoption Birth Information:
The application has several sections. Please fill in all the information requested to the best of your ability by printing clearly in
blue or black ink.
Some areas of the application will not apply to you and should be left blank.
Applicant’s Name and Mailing Address:
Please indicate your current legal surname (your last name) and your first and any middle names you may have. Your legal
name is usually the name on your current birth certificate.
A mailing address is necessary so we can contact you in case additional information is required.
A telephone number is optional. If provided, it may be used to contact you if clarification is required. If you do not wish to be contacted by telephone, leave blank.
Identification of the Applicant: Please use this section to confirm you are a mother or father/other parent (see below) named on the original birth registration by checking only one box in this section. If you check more than one box, your application will not be accepted and will be returned for correction.
Other Parent: A child’s birth can be registered with either one or two parents named on the birth registration. “Other parent” was a category of parent added to birth registration forms in 2007. It means a person who consents to be acknowledged by the mother as the parent, if the biological father is unknown and the child was born of assisted conception with an anonymous sperm donor.
Note: This area is intended primarily for applicants who are adopted. If, as a birth parent, you are aware of some of the particulars of your adopted child after the adoption took place, please provide those details in this section. Otherwise, as the birth parent, you may leave this section blank.
As the birth parent, please fill in the information requested to the best of your ability. Please try and include at a minimum:
Adopted person’s last name and first name given to them at the time he or she was born, sex, date of birth (approximate date if
exact date is not known), birth registration number found on the adopted person’s birth certificate, if known
(e.g. 1954 05 234567) and parent(s) names as they appear on the original birth registration.
Additional information requested in this section of the application may help us to process your application more quickly.
As the applicant, you must sign and date the application as indicated on page 3 in order for it to be processed.
Under the Vital Statistics Act, if you wilfully make or cause to be made a false statement in this application, you may, on conviction, be liable to a fine of not more than $50,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two years less a day or both.
Mailing Instructions
Once you have completed your application, you must mail it to:
ServiceOntario
Office of the Registrar General
PO Box 9000
Thunder Bay ON P7B 0A5
The Registrar General cannot accept applications that have been faxed, e-mailed or hand-delivered.