Legal Question in Family Law in Canada

Re: Adoption

This question indicates a lack of understanding of what adoption is. In British Columbia, adoption severs completely the parent-child relationship between the person who gave birth and the male sperm donor and provides a new set of people who are in all respects the parents; the only difference is that their sperm and egg did not contribute to making the child. Of course the adoptive parents will not give the baby back, because there is no lawful relationship whatever between the child and the person who gave birth. The child has a mother - the mother is one of the people who adopted the child. The person who gave birth (we prefer not to use the term "birth mother" as that implies that the person who gave birth is a "mother" which in law she is not) has no right to ask for the child. Further, there is no such thing as waiting until the child is "old enough" to decide where he wants to live; he will be a "child" until the age of 19 in B.C. and while it is normally acceptable for the child to decide on independence at a younger age, it is independence the child is deciding on and not parental relationships. The person who gave birth is in danger of committing an offence if she insists on contact with the child or his parents that the parents deem inappropriate or unwelcome; if she persists in attempting contact, the parents of the child may be in a position to complain to the police about stalking and may be entitled to obtain a Court Order requiring the person who gave birth to keep out of their lives entirely and not contact the child or his parents.