Adoption law needs overhauling .. give children knowledge about their birth dads,  October 03, 2007

2007-10-03  Adoption law needs overhauling to give children knowledge about their birth dad

Family law has long been ground zero in the battle of the sexes. And while both men and women have claimed, at various times, that the law puts them at a disadvantage, it is inevitably the children who suffer when the law is unbalanced.

The latest example of this became clear last week when B.C. Supreme Court Justice Daphne Smith held that British Columbia's Adoption Act doesn't, in many circumstances, require a woman to inform her child's biological father that she plans to put the child up for adoption.

FATHER FROZEN OUT

The case concerned a child who was born out of wedlock to a woman who, not being in a relationship with the child's father, decided not to inform him of the birth or register him as the child's birth father.

Instead, the woman arranged for the child to be adopted, but when the couple applied for an adoption order, it was refused because notice had not been provided to the birth father.

The couple wishing to adopt appealed that decision, and Smith last week found in their favour. And while many people are unhappy with Smith's decision, the decision itself is not the problem. Rather, it points to the fact that adoption legislation is in need of an overhaul.

After all, as Smith explained, the act only requires that a birth father be notified of a proposed adoption under limited circumstances: Either the birth father must be named as such by the birth mother, or he must be listed in the birth fathers' registry.

Now obviously, if the birth mother doesn't notify the biological father of the child's birth -- as occurred in the present case -- there's no way he could register, and hence he would not be eligible for notification of a proposed adoption.

Yet that's what the law says, and one can't criticize Smith for refusing to go beyond the law and find a general duty to inform that doesn't exist. Indeed, had she done so, she would have rendered superfluous the specific sections of the act that detail when a birth father must be notified.

So the problem here is with the act itself, which prevents birth fathers who are unaware they have children from ever knowing those children. More importantly, it prevents those children from ever knowing their fathers -- unless the birth mother chooses to inform them.

Obviously, this is not in the best interests of the children, and it is the primary purpose of the act to ensure those interests are protected. In fact, the birth fathers' registry was added to the act precisely to allow children to find out who their fathers are, and perhaps to have relationships with them.

A SERIOUS FLAW

Yet clearly, the act fails to ensure that many children have the opportunity to know their birth fathers. This is a serious flaw in the act, and one that needs to be remedied if we are to do more than pay lip service to protecting the best interests of the children.

Adoption law needs overhauling - Google Search

Adopted Children Disallowed Natural Parents

"An estimated 30,000 Canadian War Children were born of unions between Canadian servicemen and unwed, single women in Britain and Europe during and immediately after the Second World War.  ..  The most famous Canadian War Child is legendary rock-blues guitarist, Eric Clapton, who found out in March, 1998 that his father, Edward Fryer, was a Canadian soldier from Montreal.  ...  Every War Child's story is different. Some parents were actually married and for reasons known only to their father, he disappeared after the war. But the overwhelming majority of War Children were born to unwed, single mothers who were treated as outcasts in a society that viewed unwed pregnancy and single motherhood as a social taboo. Many suffered as a result of the circumstances of their birth. For them, the search for their father takes on greater meaning.  ..  Many of the War Children were put up for adoption immediately after birth. For these children, the search also includes their mother.  ..  Other War Children, like Eric Clapton, were raised by their grandparents or relatives who pretended to be their parents.  ...   Like Eric Clapton, many War Children were told at an early age of their paternity. Others found out about their Canadian fathers as teenagers, others as they grew into adults and into middle age. Some War Children found out only recently about their Canadian fathers, many after their mothers died and the truth could finally be told.

The oldest War Children were born in 1940, within a year of Canadian's arrival in Britain in December, 1939. The youngest War Children were born in 1946-47, towards the end of the Canadian's presence overseas. Every War Child is different, but one major similarity they all share is a desire to know ..  if their father is still alive and where he lives. Some War Children may want to know if he married and had other children. They may want to know more about their father's personality and life, such as what kind of a person he was, what kind of a family he came from, and what kind of work he did.  Others may want their fathers to know they exist, they would love a picture of him, or for him to have a picture of them. If he is willing, they would like to meet him and his Canadian family, and hopefully to meet their half brothers and sisters.  If their father is dead, they may want to know where he is buried so they may visit his grave."

More:  www.voicesoftheleftbehind.com