Updated disclosure and contact veto stats

In July I posted a summary of numbers from the Ontario government about forms relating to adoption disclosure. Today's copy of the Cornwall Standard-Freeholder has an interesting reunion story which includes some new stats from the government which are good till July 24, so I've included them in an updated summary and corrected some minor errors from before:

Forms relating to adoption disclosure received by MCSS, Sept 2008 to present

		Sept–Dec 2008	Jan–Apr 2009	May 2009	Jun 1–19, 2009	Jun 20-Jul 24	Total
Disclosure Veto	All	921	1,490	2,243	1,367	~400	~6,400
	Filed by birth parent	543	490	?	?	?	?
	Filed by adoptee	358	1,000	?	?	?	?
No Contact Notice (contact veto)	All	1,050		265	152	~50	~1,500
	Filed by birth parent	650		?	?	?	?
	Filed by adoptee	400		?	?	?	?
Notice of Contact Preference	All	1,500		151	219	182	2052
	Filed by birth parent	625		?	?	?	?
	Filed by adoptee	875		?	?	?	?
Post-Adoption Birth Information		0			3,443	2,791	6,234

(The ? symbols indicate a lack of information on my part.)

(Note that the Standard-Freeholder story credits the reunion to the new law; I doubt very much that this is possible. The government is certainly not at the stage even now, where a one-week turnaround time is possible, and they were hugely backlogged in June. Plus, if this were through the new law, it would be the adoptee doing the calling, not the Custodian of Adoption Information. Much more likely is the explanation that this was done through the old search service offered by the Adoption Disclosure Register and the timeframe near June 1 was just a coincidence or an effort to clear old backlogs before everything changes!).

What a veto would mean

Well, it's been eight weeks since Disclosure Day, so if the Ministry's estimate of 6-8 weeks is to be believed, I should be getting a response to my Post-Adoption Birth Information application any day now.

Now that the day is close, I'm once again thinking seriously about what I'll get and guarding myself against disappointment. As crazy a rationalization as it may seem, even a veto would mean I know something more about my birth parents than I do now.

Would they file one? I have only the Non-ID as grounds for speculation:

• On the "pro-veto" side: well, they haven't made any serious attempt to find me since I turned 18. I also know they neither of them had told their parents about the pregnancy, so odds are I'm still their deep dark secret.
  
  
• On the other hand, my birth mother allegedly wanted lots of info about my placement, and my birth father was around for the whole thing and was "interested in my future". Could all this just be Children's Aid propaganda? Maybe, but I'm going to take it at face value until I have reason to doubt. Finally and most importantly, choosing not to actively seek for someone is not the same as wanting not to be found.

Whatever the case, I have to steel myself for the possibility that when the envelope arrives it will have nothing in it but a but a form letter shoot-down. What would I do then?

It depends. Obviously if both birthparents are listed on my birth certificate, and only one issued a veto, I'll try to find the other one.

Based on what I've heard about birth fathers and original birth certificates, it sounds very likely that my birth father wasn't named on my birth registration: this also means he wasn't entitled to file a veto. In that case, there's nothing to stop me from searching for him still.

The last, and worst, case is that both birthparents issued vetoes. I really don't know what I'd do in this case, and as much as I try I can't really prepare myself for it. It's one thing not to get your hopes up; it's quite another to convince yourself of the worst outcome.

I might well go off, despondent, and try to forget all this. But I really, really doubt it. More likely I'd quietly search while stopping short of contact and seek confirmation with whichever means I can find. I may approach more distant relatives. This whole project isn't about a relationship or a need for surrogate parents; it's about me finding my connection to the rest of Homo sapiens.

Disclosure and contact veto stats

On Friday the website InsideToronto published some figures on the numbers of forms relating to adoption disclosure recently received by the Ontario government.

These include the final stats for disclosure vetoes received before the June 1 deadline and stats on contact vetoes, contact preference forms, and post-adoption birth information requests. If you're not sure about exactly what these forms are, you can read the Ontario government's explanation or this summary from a Toronto adoption support group. Briefly, disclosure vetoes block information release, contact vetoes offer information on condition of no contact, and contact preference forms let you say how you want to be contacted.

What am I interested in? Stats on disclosure vetoes, obviously. The more filed before June 1, the less my chances of finding something in the next few weeks. Of course my application is long since in so there's nothing more I can do now, but until I actually get a response I might as well play this guessing game.

I've combined these numbers with earlier published accounts plus figures from responses by the Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) to private inquiries. The result is the following table, summarizing the numbers of forms received by MCSS from last September to now, which shows some interesting trends.

Forms relating to adoption disclosure received by MCSS, Sept 2008 to present

		Sept–Dec 2008	Jan–Apr 2009	May 2009	Jun 1–19, 2009	Total
Disclosure Veto	All	921	1,490	2,243	1,367	6,021
	Filed by birth parent	543	490	?	?	?
	Filed by adoptee	358	1,000	?	?	?
No Contact Notice (contact veto)	All	1,050		265	152	1,467
	Filed by birth parent	650		?	?	?
	Filed by adoptee	400		?	?	?
Notice of Contact Preference	All	1,500		100	219	870
	Filed by birth parent	625		?	?	?
	Filed by adoptee	875		?	?	?
Post-Adoption Birth Information		0			3,443	3,443

(The ? symbols indicate a lack of information on my part.)

I'll comment more on the figures later; hope you find them useful.