I stumbled across a news story in The Vancouver Province on a recent court ruling about the rights of birth fathers in adoption.
In this particular case, an adoption was being held up because the Master (lower than a judge) interpreted the Adoption Act as requiring the birth father to be informed of the adoption, despite the fact that he was unaware of the pregnancy and had not been named on the birth certificate. The master believed that the child had the right to know both his/her biological parents’ histories.
However, a Supreme Court Judge over-ruled this decision. This Judge’s interpretation of the Act was that the birth father should only be informed of the child’s adoption if he had admitted paternity and was aware of the pregnancy. It was contended that the Act did not compel the birth mother to inform the birth father of the child’s existence.
this throws up the question of a birth father’s right to know he has a child, and to be involved in the adoption process, if he chooses. Of course, there are always situations where it isn’t appropriate to involve or name the birth father, and no-one disputes this.
I haven’t done a lot of research on the current lie of the land in terms of the role of birth fathers in adoption these days, and their own thinking on the subject. From an adoptee’s point of view, I can say two things.
Firstly, I think informing the birth father of the pregnancy and the child’s adoption at the time makes it far easier for the adoptee to make contact with him down the track. When a birth father has no idea of the child’s existence, the search and reunion process is so much harder for all concerned. An adoptee may think about searching for years before actually doing it, but the person being contacted – in this case, the unsuspecting birth father – needs just as much time to come to terms with what this means to him.
Secondly, I agree that having access to both biological parents’ backgrounds is so important for the adoptee. Even if the adoptee decides never to search for either party, at least he/she has some idea of his/her background. Forming an identity of who we are is so difficult if some of the past is missing.
In saying all this, I acknowledge some adoptees are not interested in their biological backgrounds and never search for their biological parents. But that is their choice. And choice is the optimum word here. Everyone in the process needs the chance to choose whether they play a role in the whole adoption story. By denying birth fathers the right to know they have a child, they are denied the right to be involved in choosing the adoptive parents, in keeping in touch with the child, and in perhaps meeting that child one day.
These are just my comments and feelings, but I’d love to hear from others. Feel free to jot down what you think about birth fathers and their rights.
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Janet, your description of the adoptee’s perspective is very interesting, and I think most people would feel this way. The question of whether the birth father should be informed could be looked at from this point of view – who benefits by not informing them? The child? (no, for the reasons you outline). The birth father? It could hardly be argued that not informing the birth father is for his benefit. Our culture values the concept of family, and the right to be informed for all the family should be respected (although I can imagine there will always be exceptional circumstances where reasons relating to the welfare of the child would take precedence).
Glenn,
I really like the way you framed this and presented another way of viewing the issue. You are right, who does benefit from keeping quiet? It seems so simple, so obvious an answer, and yet in the adoption arena, the notions of family, of openness, of accessing information about biological roots stand outside the societal norm. Some barriers have been broken down over the years, so that open adoptions occur, where the parties in adoption can have contact right from the start. But when you see news stories like this one where a judge deems a birth father to not have the right to know he has a child, and to be involved in the adoption process, you realise there’s still a long way to go.