Children who have been adopted, adoptive parents and birth parents all have rights under the law.

What are my rights if I am having my child adopted?

Once the adoption is complete your rights as a parent end and you are no longer considered a parent of the child.

Both birth parents must:

consent to their child being adopted
have counselling and independent legal advice before they make this decision

If a child is being adopted right after birth, the birth parents must wait until at least 72 hours after the child is born before giving consent to the adoption.

Whether your child is being adopted as a baby or as an older child, you have 21 days from the day you consent to the adoption to change your mind.

You can choose to have the Ministry of Social Services handle the adoption. There is no cost to the birth parents. The birth parents can still take part in choosing adoptive parents.

You can also decide to have your child adopted by someone you have chosen. In this case a lawyer is usually needed and there are other costs, like costs for a home study.

What if I adopt a child?

If you adopt a child you become their parent under the law. You have the same rights and responsibilities as any other parent.

I was adopted. Can I find out who my birth parents are?

You can request information about your birth parents by applying to the Post-Adoption Registry.

If you were adopted before January 1, 2017, and if your birth parents did not want their information released, you may not be able to find out their names. If you were adopted after January 1, 2017, you can find out the names of your birth parents once you reach 18. This is because the law changed about whether parents and children could refuse to share their names.

Both birth parents and adopted children (once they are adults) can decide what kind of contact they want with the other and it does not matter when the adoption occurred. Either of you may decide you do not want to have any contact. When you are a child, decisions about contact will be made with your adoptive parents.

Learn More

Adopted children, birth parents and parents who adopted children can request different types of information through the Post-Adoption Registry. The Government of Saskatchewan publishes a Guide to Post-Adoption Services that lists all the information you can request and how to request it.

Get Help

Evermore Centre
Provides pre- and post-adoption support services, as well as support for legal guardianship, Person of Sufficient Interest (PSI), and kinship care.
Toll-free: 1.866.869.2727
Phone: 306.665.7272
Email: admin@evermorecentre.ca