Open Adoption in Nova Scotia: Agreements, Enforceability, and What Works

When most people hear "open adoption," they imagine a spectrum — from a closed adoption where birth and adoptive families have no contact, to a fully open arrangement with regular in-person visits. In Nova Scotia, open adoption exists in a space that is more nuanced than either extreme: agreements are possible, are recognized under the Children and Family Services Act, and can be structured in many ways — but they carry legal weight that is different from a court order and requires families to understand exactly what they are agreeing to.

What Open Adoption Means in Practice

Open adoption in Nova Scotia refers to any arrangement that maintains some form of contact or information exchange between the adopted child and members of their birth family — typically birth parents, but potentially also grandparents, siblings, or other relatives.

This contact can take many forms:

• In-person visits (one to four times per year)
• Letters, photographs, or cards sent on a set schedule
• Digital contact (emails, video calls in some arrangements)
• Updates sent through DCS or a practitioner as an intermediary

The form and frequency are negotiated individually and recorded in an openness agreement. There is no single required format, and "open" can mean something quite different from one family to the next.

Section 78A of the CFSA: The Legal Framework

Section 78A of the Children and Family Services Act recognizes openness agreements as legally acknowledged arrangements. The provision allows parties to an adoption — adoptive parents, birth parents, and sometimes the child — to enter a written agreement specifying the contact arrangements they have agreed to.

The key word is "recognized," not "enforceable" in the same sense as a custody order. In Nova Scotia, if an adoptive parent stops honoring an openness agreement — ceases the scheduled visits, stops sending photographs — the birth parent's legal recourse is limited. The court's primary framework is the best interests of the child and the stability of the adoptive home. Courts are generally reluctant to order specific contact over an adoptive parent's objection in a way that destabilizes the adoptive placement.

This matters for both sides:

• Birth parents should understand that an openness agreement is a meaningful commitment, but it is not a guaranteed court-enforced right of access
• Adoptive parents should understand that entering an openness agreement carries a genuine good-faith commitment and that unilaterally abandoning it without reason is not something the legal system encourages

The CFSA does include provisions for dispute resolution regarding openness arrangements — typically mediation — before any court involvement. If a relationship is deteriorating, mediation is the first recommended path, not litigation.

When Openness Agreements Are Used

Openness agreements arise in several contexts:

Public adoption (Crown ward placements): DCS often encourages openness agreements for children being adopted from public care, particularly when the child has an existing relationship with birth family members. Children who have older siblings who were not adopted, or who have grandparents or other relatives who were involved in their lives, may benefit from continued contact. DCS facilitates these discussions during the placement phase.

Private voluntary placements (Section 68): Birth parents who voluntarily place a child for adoption often do so with some form of openness understanding. The specifics vary widely — some birth parents want no contact; others want annual photo updates; some want regular visits. The terms are negotiated before placement and formalized in the openness agreement.

Kinship and step-parent adoption: Here the situation is often already defined by existing relationships. A step-parent adopting a child whose biological father is absent typically results in minimal or no openness. A grandparent adopting a grandchild while the birth parent remains in the family picture typically involves a practical ongoing relationship that may or may not need to be formalized.

Openness and the Child's Identity

Nova Scotia's adoption framework explicitly acknowledges that children benefit from knowing their history, their origins, and their cultural connections. This is not just a policy preference — it is embedded in the CFSA and in DCS practice guidelines.

Openness agreements are one mechanism for supporting this. They are not the only one. Even without regular in-person contact, adoptive parents can:

• Maintain a life book or memory box for the child with photographs and information about their birth family and origins
• Use the records disclosure system under the Adoption Information Act to gather non-identifying information about birth family history
• Prepare the child for their own records access when they reach adulthood (age 19 for adoptees under the new open records model)

For children of Mi'kmaw or African Nova Scotian heritage, cultural continuity is a specific requirement of placements — not just an option. An openness agreement with Mi'kmaw birth family members that supports the child's connection to their community is often both an ethical obligation and a practical expectation of the placement.

What Makes Openness Agreements Work

Decades of adoption research consistently shows that openness, when implemented thoughtfully, benefits adopted children. The key factors that make openness work well:

Clear, specific terms: Vague agreements ("regular contact") lead to conflict. Specific agreements ("one two-hour visit per year at a mutually agreed location, plus photographs in December and June") leave little room for misinterpretation.

Flexibility built in: Children's needs change as they grow. An agreement that worked at age five may need adjustment at age twelve. Building in a review mechanism — "we will review contact arrangements annually and discuss any changes" — acknowledges this.

The child's evolving voice: As children grow, their own wishes about contact with birth family should carry increasing weight. Openness arrangements that were designed for young children need to be revisited as those children become capable of expressing their own preferences.

Adoptive parent security: Research shows that adoptive parents who feel secure about the adoption and their legal status are more likely to support openness than parents who feel threatened. This is one argument for legally finalizing the adoption promptly — security enables generosity.

Birth parent boundaries: An openness agreement that works requires birth parents to respect the adoptive family's boundaries. Arrangements that involve a birth parent who struggles with those limits often require revision or mediation.

The Open Records Context

Open adoption agreements are distinct from — but related to — Nova Scotia's open records system under the Adoption Information Act. The open records change (implemented in spring 2022) allows adult adoptees to access their original birth registration and adoption order without requiring consent from birth parents, unless a disclosure veto is on file.

This means that even in closed adoptions with no openness agreement, an adult adoptee in Nova Scotia now has legal access to their identifying birth information. The two systems operate in parallel: openness agreements govern contact while the child is growing up; the records system governs access to formal documentation in adulthood.

For the specific language used in Nova Scotia openness agreements, how DCS structures openness discussions during public adoption placement, and what the CFSA's dispute resolution provisions mean in practice, the Nova Scotia Adoption Process Guide covers the full framework for open adoption arrangements.

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