Saskatchewan changes rules for accessing birth registration information

New regulations are now in effect in Saskatchewan to make it easier for adult adoptees and birth parents to access birth registration information.

One of the changes replaces the requirement to obtain consent with the option of the birth parents and adult adoptees to file a veto or provide a contact preference.

A veto prevents the release of any identifying information while the contact reference indicates how an individual wants to be contacted.

So far, 84 birth parents have registered to veto identifying information.

Social Services director of program design and operational policy standards, Ellen McGuire, said the change would cut wait times from about three years to as little as a few weeks.

“What we can do is give all parties access to the birth registration information, making it much more accessible and a quicker turnaround time for everyone.”

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Social Services Minister Tina Beaudry-Mellor said the changes, first announced in February 2016, were made at the request of adoptees, adoptive families and birth parents.

“These changes will help support individuals involved in an adoption in learning more about their history, and even potentially strengthening their connections to their culture and birth family, if this is something they wish to move forward with,” Beaudry-Mellor said in a statement.

Birth registrations contain the names of the listed birth parents, the name of the child at birth, the location of the birth and the name of the hospital.

READ MORE: Regina woman reunited with adoptee brother after online search

Adult adoptees and birth parents can call 1-800-667-7539 or visit the Saskatchewan government’s website on post-adoption services to access forms to apply for birth registration information, file a veto or file a contact preference.

McGuire said since announcing the changes in February 2016, social services has received approximately 250 inquiries from adult adoptees.

The new regulations, affecting roughly 37,000 adoptions in Saskatchewan since 1922, came into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.