Introduction

Hi there, my name's James.

Well, okay, that isn't actually my name, or at least isn't what I go by. But it isn't a pseudonym either: it was the first name I ever had, picked out for me at birth and probably taken from some relative I've never met; it was the name under which I existed (legally at least) for the first nine months of life until my adoption was finalized.

So I'm an adoptee. I plan to go more into my story in later posts; briefly though, I was born in the province of Ontario, Canada in the late '70s and adopted shortly after birth. I've always known I'm adopted and I've always been interested in learning about my origins.

In writing here under this pseudo-pseudonym I have two goals. The first is to just to talk about being an adoptee and adoption generally. This isn't something I've usually dwelt deeply on, but I've been thinking about this a lot lately for a reason I'm about to get into.

I also want to discuss an adoptee's situation in the province of Ontario. Starting this June (2009) because of a new law, most Ontario adoptees — myself hopefully included — will finally be able to learn their full birth names and and the names of their birth mothers. For many this will be a goal long sought after and the first step towards contact.

I say "hopefully" because success isn't guaranteed. Many adoptees and birth parents never expected their identities could be revealed in such a way and the predecessor of this law was quashed following a court challenge on privacy grounds. Under the new replacement law an adoptee or birth parent whose name may be revealed can file a request to prevent the disclosure of their identity. So there is a chance I could be disappointed in June.

There are now 36 days left till June 1, when the government will begin processing applications. As you can see, I'm already counting the days. I'm hoping that this blog will give me a bit of an outlet in the weeks to come (and maybe save some fingernails) and will make some interesting reading whether you happen to have a personal connection to adoption or not.