The Access to Adoption Records Act (known before passage as Bill 12) is an Ontario (Canada) law passed in 2008 regarding the disclosure of information between parties involved in adoptions.
It is the successor to the 2005 Adoption Information Disclosure Act, parts of which were struck down in 2007 in a ruling by Judge Edward Belobaba of the Ontario Superior Court.
[1] The most significant provision of the bill was the introduction of a disclosure veto to allow adoptees and birth parents involved in adoptions prior to September 1, 2008, to prevent the release of their names, which would otherwise be available upon request by any concerned party when the adoptee reaches the age of majority.
Adoptions that occurred after September 1, 2008, are open which means that when requested, identifying information about either the adoptee (as long as he/she is over 18 years of age) or the birth parents can be shared.
[2] In May 2009, the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services revealed that 2,500 people had filed disclosure vetoes between September 1, 2008, and April 30, 2009, with figures split approximately 50-50 between adoptees and birth parents.