Day 10.. 12 days of Adoption Christmas

Day 10...More answers to your questions

All information is from our agency's website: http://www.adoptionbychoice.ca

What is Open Adoption?

Open adoption is a positive way to bring people together to create an adoption plan that leaves all parties feeling secure and respected.

Birth parents choose the adoptive family who will raise their child, and along with the adoptive family, they choose how they want to keep in touch with the child over the years. The starting point of an open adoption is the birth family and adoptive family coming together to build a plan that will meet the needs of the child.  Many birth parents receive emails, photos of their child, and some also have phone calls and visits with the adoptive family.  Every adoption plan is unique and the type and frequency of contact will likely vary over time as the family’s lives will undoubtedly change. Ongoing contact of some form will give the birth parent and their family comfort of knowing that their child is safe and happy. They can be proud of the plan they built for their child, knowing that they placed their child's needs above their own.

Through ongoing contact, adoptive families better understand the birth parents' decision to choose adoption, and they have access to important information about the birth parents.

Open adoption especially benefits the children.  There is an opportunity for the child to learn about and maintain a connection with their birth family, their culture and original roots.

Each open adoption arrangement is unique.  At ABC, we will ensure the child's placement is as unique as the people involved.

1)Is there a cost to adopt a child? What is the cost?

Yes, there is a cost to adopt a child. An agency adoption is about $11,000, which covers the services provided to you and birth parents throughout the adoption process. These fees are broken down into three parts: Becoming an approved applicant, moving on to the active list and placement fees charged to finalize an adoption once the child is in your care.

2)What is the procedure to adopt?

a. Our application to adopt needs to be filled out giving information about yourselves, the child you would accept, and references for yourselves.
b. Once the criminal record check and the request for intervention record check have been returned, you have attended the weekend seminar, and your references have been checked out, we arrange for a home study report to be done by one of our social workers.
c. When the home study report is complete, you are ready to go onto our wait list and write a letter to the birth parents. This is a letter introducing yourselves to them with pictures of you and your life.
Application Forms can be found here.

3) What is the average wait for a child?

The average wait for a family is between six and thirty months.

4) Can the birth parents take the child away from us later?

No, the birth mother or father cannot take the child away. The birth mother and father  signs consents at the time the child is placed and has 10 days in which to revoke those consents.

5) Can we choose the sex of the child?

Most families are accepting of whatever gender the child born would be. If a family were to specify the gender they would accept, it would decrease the number of times when their file would be shown (where child already born).

6) Is there counselling available for us and the birth parents?

Yes, part of the costs involved in an adoption are for this specific purpose. We are here with trained professional social workers to help with every step of the process for both the birth parents and the adopting parents, and their families.