Difference between revisions of "Adoption (3:XIII)"

The [http://canlii.ca/t/84g5 ''Adoption Act''] governs adoptions in BC. The Act provides for the licensing of adoption agencies. These agencies, in addition to the Director of Adoption, have exclusive authority for facilitating adoptions, matching birth families with adoptive parents, adoption planning, pre-placement assessment, placement services, and post-placement counselling and assessments for non relative adoptions in BC. The ''Adoption Act'' enables any adult person to apply to adopt a child, or to adopt another adult person. Under ss 5 and 29, one or two adults may apply to adopt a child. This allows unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, to apply to adopt.  

The ''Adoption Act'' says that a child may be placed for adoption by the Director of Child, Family and Community Service; an adoption agency; a parent or guardian of a child by direct placement; or a parent or guardian of a child, if the child is placed with a relative of the child.  A direct placement means the placing of a child by a parent or other guardian with one or 2 adults who are not a relative of the child. According to section 37(c), biological parents may also apply to adopt with a third party.  

The adopted person takes the given names specified in the adoption order, and the surname of the adopting parents, unless the court orders otherwise at the request of the applicant (s 36).  

An adoption effected under the law of a jurisdiction other than BC is valid in BC as though it had been made under BC’s adoption legislation (s 47). Part 4 of the ''Adoption Act'' deals with interprovincial and intercountry adoptions.  Before a person brings a child into the province for adoption they must obtain the approval of a director or an adoption agency (s 48(1)). Part 4 Division 2 deals with intercountry adoption of children from countries that are signatories to the [https://www.hcch.net/en/instruments/conventions/specialised-sections/intercountry-adoption Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption]. To complete an adoption from a foreign country, whether that country is a “Hague Country” or not, a person needs the approval of the British Columbia [http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/immigrate/adoption/authorities.asp Central Authority].   

Section 13(1) of the ''Adoption Act'' states that no adoption order may be made without the written consent of:  

*the child’s parents. The birthing parent cannot sign consents until the child is at least 10 days old (s 14). The consent of the other biological parent, who is not presumed to be the child’s biological parent under s. 26 of the ''Family Law Act'', is not required unless the biological parent acknowledges they are named as a parent by the child’s birthing parent;  

*where a child is a permanent ward of the Director of Child, Family, and Community Service, the Director, as guardian, must consent (s 13(5)).  

The court may dispense with the need for consent from some of these parties. Parental consent may be dispensed with if it is in the best interest of the child or if the person has abandoned or deserted the child, cannot be found, is incapable of giving consent, has persistently neglected or refused to contribute to support for which they are liable, or is a person whose consent ought, in all the circumstances of the case, to be dispensed with (s 17). The consent of a child over 12 years of age can only be dispensed with if the child is not capable of giving informed consent (s 17(2)).  

A person’s consent must be in the form of an affidavit sworn in front of a notary or a lawyer. Each affidavit must state that the effect of the consent and of adoption was fully explained to the person consenting, and that they signed the consent freely and voluntarily.   

A person wishing to apply to adopt must notify the Director of Adoption in writing of their intention (s 31) at least 30 days before filing the application unless:

Subject to circumstances where s 42 of the ''Adoption Act'' apply, an application under s 11 of the ''Adoption Act'' dispensing with notice of a proposed adoption to a birth parent and an application under s 17 of the ''Adoption Act'' dispensing with consent to an adoption, may be included in an application for an order for adoption under ''Supreme Court Family Rule'' 17-1(26). See Family Practice Direction 1: Adoption Applications at http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/supreme_court/practice_and_procedure/family_practice_directions.aspx.  

Consent may be revoked in writing before the child is placed (s 18). The birth parent may revoke their consent within 30 days of the child’s birth regardless of the child’s placement. The child may revoke consent at any time before the order is made (s 20). After the child has been placed, subject to the above, consent may be revoked only by court order and only if it would be in the best interests of the child. The application for revocation of consent must be made before the granting of the adoption order (s 22).  

*paternity affidavit of birth parent if no other biological parent named;