Children must be told they're adopted in Estonia's new Family Law Act

https://www.err.ee/1610021233/pereseaduse-muudatus-kohustab-lapsendajaid-last-sellest-teavitama https://lepmetsnoges.eu/the-secrecy-of-adoption-may-disappear-the-right-to-know-ones-origins-is-a-human-right Also medical data is a little bit more complicated. It's not fully given out but medical data relating to the child can be given out that is important. Instead it's other information that is given out. Information Shared Under the New Law - The full names, personal identification codes, and contact details of biological parents. - The original birth record, including the person’s former name and native language. - Personality traits, habits, and personal preferences of the adoptee before adoption. - A detailed description of the adoptee’s physical appearance prior to the adoption. - Photographs taken before the adoption that show the child’s early life. - Specific duration and location of care before the adoption, such as the orphanage or foster family. Information Kept Private Under the New Law - Changes in biological parents’ lives after the adoption remain private without their consent. - The adoptive parents’ application details, personal assessments, and home-study reports. - Comprehensive medical records of the biological parents, protected by health privacy laws. - Reasons for separation from family if not explicitly recorded by the biological parents. - Access to information about an adopted sibling depends on the adult adoptee’s consent. Principles of the Old Law (Pre-Reform) - Adoption secrecy meant a child knew they were adopted only if parents chose to tell them. - Biological parents’ identifying details were kept confidential unless all parties provided consent. - The system did not require adoptive parents to inform the child about their adoption at any time. - There was no legal mechanism for adoptees to independently request their origin information. New Law Principles and the Request Procedure - Adoptive parents are now legally obligated to inform the child of their adoption before adulthood. - Adult adoptees can access extensive pre-adoption data without needing biological parents’ consent. - A request for origin information must be submitted directly to the Social Insurance Board. - The new framework replaces the former adoption secrecy system with an open origins policy. - Minors may also access some information with the consent of their adoptive parents.

Not just medical history, but also identity and a sense of equality. Adoptees are more likely to ~~commit~~ attempt suicide, with some estimates going from 4 times as likely to 35 times as likely. If this information can help reduce that then it's good too. Knowing that there are people who have the ability to access their original documents and you don't does not help destigmatize adoption, and it makes you feel like you are separate.

Yea, don't a lot of European countries ban 23andMe etc because it would "disrupt" the social construct if kids knew they had different bio parents?

*Glados enthusiastically enters the chat*

It's just f****** *weird* not to tell them. I'm adopted and I have always known. I don't remember being told bc it's just been an unremarkable thing about me I've known since as far back as I remember. The secrecy CREATES the drama! The mere fact of adoption has no power to shock or hurt someone who's been raised in that knowledge from day one.

This ⬆️

> Estonia keeps adoptions extremely lowonly 27 children in 2025by legally mandating that family separation is an absolute last resort and must be preceded by exhausting all available support. Preventative measures include a robust financial safety net a monthly child allowance of €80 (2023), up to three years of job-protected parental leave with income replacement, and municipal birth grants like Valga’s €430 paid in installments. Proactive home-visiting programmes, such as the SOS Children’s Village Family Strengthening Programme, have helped nearly 500 children remain with their families. Children’s Houses using the Barnahus model provide multidisciplinary trauma care, while health and social service integration reforms automatically trigger support when a child is diagnosed with a severe condition. When separation is unavoidable, reunification remains the goal, and large orphanages have been replaced with family-based care. This systemic prevention caused the adoption rate to plummet from 41 per 100,000 children in 2010 to just 9 per 100,000 in 2018, with about 1,000 children per 100,000 in public care, culminating in the 2025 total of 27 adoptions into diverse, child-centred families. https://www.armastanaidata.ee/en/projects/sos-childrens-village-support-children-so-they-can-grow-up-with-a-mum-and-dad/#login-modal https://sotsiaalkindlustusamet.ee/en/childrens-house?css=2&id=20711&lang=et https://news.err.ee/1609936166/fewer-children-adopted-or-placed-in-foster-care-in-estonia-in-2025 Yes, because it has been shown that when social safety systems go up, adoptions go down. It is not surprising at all that poor countries that have weak social safety systems or systems that have weaker protections to prevent child trafficking tend to have fewer adoptions.

Australia has twenty times the population with 155 adoptions last year, just for another datapoint.

That is not uncommon. Fewer kids are available for adoption than people think. The vast majority of kids in foster care are there with the hope towards eventual family reunion. Combine that with a relatively small population, and the numbers are always going to be low. 

> Under Estonia’s upcoming adoption reform, comprehensive medical records belonging to the biological parents are kept private and not disclosed to the adoptee, as they remain protected by health privacy laws, but health-related information directly relevant to the adoptee’s own health or hereditary genetic risks may be disclosed on a limited basis if managed separately under data protection regulations. - Full names and personal identification codes of the biological parents - Available contact information for the biological parents at the time of adoption - Adoptee's former name, if changed, and their native language - Personality traits, habits, and personal preferences before the adoption - A description of the adoptee's physical appearance prior to adoption - Pre‑adoption photographs of the adoptee - The exact time period and location of pre‑adoption care This information is instead provided.

They already don't exist in Estonia and anonymous drop-offs are already illegal even at fire stations or hospitals. You have to go through a former procedure. A child being given the right to know their identity is already a thing. It's just that now the law has made it so that the child is required to know, not that it's up to the parents. They also don't need anyone's consent anymore. But the idea of anonymous drop-offs just weren't a thing in Estonia. They have other ways of handling parents in crises. They have a lot more social systems in place to help them. You cannot just abandon your kid anonymously, you would be prosecuted for child abandonment.

What are you talking about? Requiring adoptive parents to tell the child they're adopted has nothing to do with any of the things you listed. Requiring children to be given access to birth information means whatever info is known must be shared.