Since the Province of Quebec opened its adoption records on June 16, a team of eight caseworkers has been overwhelmed with requests. During the first week, the team’s phone lines were flooded with 14,000 calls. To date, they have received 21,500 calls.
On top of that, more than 19,000 applications have been filed.
The thousands of calls and applications came not only from people who were adopted, but from people who gave up a child for adoption and may want their identity to remain anonymous until they die.
Thousands of single pregnant women and abandoned children were welcomed at the Miséricorde Hospital in Montreal. Founded in 1848, the hospital closed in 2012. Photo Philippe Du Berger. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The province’s adoption records are being released in two stages.
The first records that will be opened to orphans and adopted children are those where the parents have been dead for more than a year, which is the case for the majority of the records.
Then, for people whose parents are still alive, the government imposed a one-year waiting period. These orphans and adopted children will have to wait until June 16, 2019 before asking for the identity of their parents.
During this time, the parents will be able to register a refusal of disclosure in order to prevent the child from knowing their identity. This refusal will be temporary. After the parent has died, their identity will be revealed.
In September, three months after the opening of the office, the Ministry of Health and Social Services estimated the average wait time for an adoption record would be two-and-half months “between the receipt of the application and the beginning of treatment.” That estimated delivery time, however, does not seem to be the case.
While it appears there are no plans to increase the number of caseworkers, the wait time should eventually become shorter.
The Ministry of Health and Social Services said to La Presse, in French, “As the number of new requests decreases, and it is expected the waiting time before obtaining a response will decrease in the coming months.”
