Ways To Adopt

The public system involves working with your Children's Aid Siciety where you will be educated and trained to become adoptive parents to children in the care of the Children's Aid Society. These are children of parents who realized they were not in a position to raise their children or were unable to cope with being parents. This may be the result of a serious breakdown within the family such as a parent's addiction, illness, disability, or death. Children who are available for adoption may be infants, toddlers, older children or sibling groups, and they may have special needs related to past life experiences, being older, or health and/or emotional problems.

As in all adoptions in Ontario, you will need a Home Study which can be completed by your Children's Aid Society or by a Private Adoption Practitioner. Your Children's Aid Society will give you a lot of support and help during the placement and even after the adoption is finalized.

For information about public adoption, contact the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa-Carleton, 1602 Telesat Court, Ottawa, ON, K1B 1B1, and attend an Adoption Information Session. Their website is www.casott.on.ca Their telephone number is 613-747-7800.

In order to connect with children throughout Ontario, you can attend the Adoption Resource Exchange which is offered in Toronto in the spring and fall. Profiles of children around the province are presented to prospective adoptive parents. For further information, contact the Adoption Council of Ontario at aco@adoption.ca or check out their website www.adoption.on.ca

Another list of available children throughout Canada is Canada's Waiting Children Program. Visit their website at www.canadaswaitingkids.ca

Also check out Today's Child on the Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services' website www.children.gov.on.ca

Private adoption in Ontario is regulated under the Child and Family Services Act. The legislation authorizes the Ministry of Children and Youth Services to license individuals or agencies to place children for adoption. Licenses are granted for a one year period and can be renewed as long as the Licensee continues to meet the standards set out by the Ministry.

Planning for a private adoption often begins with a birth parent or parents asking a Private Adoption Practitioner or Licensee to help find a family for their child. However, it could also start with a potential adoptive family finding a birth parent or a couple who would like to place a child for adoption and approaching a Licensee to arrange the placement. In either case, the Licensee must notify the Ministry's Director of a proposed placement and submit an Adoption Home Study, along with the social and medical history of birth parents and the child.

Birth parents are encouraged to be as involved as possible in deciding on the kind of family that they would like to adopt their child. The values, lifestyle, education, cultural heritage, and other characteristics that are important to birth parents, are considered carefully when choosing the child's adoptive parents.

The Ministry's Director will review the material and approve the placement if assured that the proposed adoption is in the best interests of the child. The birth mother and father, if he qualifies as a parent under the definition found in the CFSA, may sign consents to adoption 8 days after the child is born, but have 21 days after signing to reverse that decision. The child may not be placed in a proposed adoptive home until after the Director has approved the placement.

One major difference between an adoption arranged by a Children's Aid Society and a private adoption, is cost. Adoptive parents who adopt privately are responsible for all fees involved including the fee for a privately conducted Home Study and the fee for birth parent counselling. The CFSA allows the Licensee to charge only for those fees, disbursements, and expenses listed in the regulations.

International adoptions are regulated under provincial adoption laws, federal immigration laws, and the laws of the child's country of origin. All these laws must be observed. The adoption laws of the child's country will determine which Ontario law applies to the adoption. Adoptions that will be completed in Ontario after the child joins his or her family in Canada are governed by the Child and Family Services Act. They must be handled by a Children's Aid Society or by a Licensee whose license specifically authorizes adoptions from the particular country involved. Also, the Licensee or CAS will supervise the placement until the court makes the final adoption order.

Adoptions that are completed in the child's country, are governed by the inner-Country Adoption Act and must involve an international adoption agency licensed by the Ministry of Community and Social Services. To obtain a list of Ontario licensed agencies, please contact the Ministry's Adoption Unit at 416-327-4730 or access the Ministry's website at www.gov.on.ca/css

As with private adoption, licenses are granted for one year and can be renewed annually as long as established standards continue to be met. While the Ministry monitors Ontario licensed agencies and investigates the credentials of the agencies' associates in the other country, it is recommended that the adotive applicants also familiarize themselves with the agency's services and affiliates abroad.

Hopeful adoptive parents must arrange for an Adoption Home Study to be conducted by an Adoption Practitioner approved by the Ministry. The Ministry reviews the Home Study as part of the process for approving their eligibility and suitability to adopt. Some international adoptions must have the approval of both countries before they can be completed. In these cases the Ministry Director will review and approve the adoption proposal. The licensed international adoption agency helps people who want to adopt in other countries by managing international adoption process.

As with private adoptions in Ontario, there will be costs to adoptive parents. Under the Inter-Country Adoption Act and Regulations, licensed international adoption agencies are allowed to charge for a number of expenses. The total cost of international adoption may vary depending on adoption requirements in the child's country and the services required to complete the adoption. To determine the cost of an adoption from a country of interest, contact the licensed agency dealing with that country for an approximate estimate.

Adoption authorities in the child's country are responsible for deciding which child to propose to a person or couple. In most cases they will forward the proposal to the licensed international agency to present for review and consideration by the potential adoptive family. The Private Adoption Practitioner will be involved in the proposal and recommendation of the match.

People hoping to adopt internationally must also arrange for sponsorship of the child through a Canada Immigration Centre. It is recommended that this be done early in the adoption process.

Adoptive parents need to select the country from which they wish to adopt a child. The approved Adoption Practitioner conducting the Home Study and/or the licensed international adoption agency's experience with specific countries can assist with this process.

The information on private and international adoptions was excerpted from the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services publication "How To Adopt a Child In Ontario."