A Crying Shame. The steeply rising costs of adoption in Canada.
kippah...@hotmail.com
house and cottage -- we're everything any birth mother would desire.
We can provide a great life for a child, and it's just not happening
for us."
http://www.financialpost.com/money/story.html?id=456035
A crying shame
Sarah Treleaven, Financial Post
Published: Saturday, April 19, 2000
This first in a two-part series looks at the steeply rising costs of
adoption. Next Saturday, the costs of surrogacy.
Perfect-looking families stare out from online profiles on private
adoption sites, pleading to provide a home for someone else's
biological child. Couples view video clips of a four-year-old born to
a drug-dependent mother, puzzling over whether she will be the right
fit for their family. And then there are those who literally travel to
opposite ends of the Earth to pick up a son or daughter they've only
seen in a photograph.
The picture of adoption in Canada includes multiple images. While
there are three options for adoption in Canada--public, private
domestic and international -- the system is far from simple to
navigate. It is characterized by copious paperwork, lengthy wait
times, few guarantees and -- in the case of private and international
adoption -- extremely steep fees.
While there are currently no fees associated with public adoption
through a Children's Aid Society, the cost for private and
international adoptions can range from $10,000 to $50,000.
Prospective parents often start by paying for a mandatory homestudy,
which determines if prospective parents and their environment are
suitable for a child, and sometimes a parent training course.
Additional expenses can include counseling costs for the child's
biological family, legal fees (for facilitation by licensees,
citizenship processing or name changes), oversight fees for adoption
practitioners, travel expenses (including hotels, flights, incountry
costs and visas), private agency fees and finally -- in the case of
private domestic adoption -- the costs of marketing oneself as the
ideal couple.
In the private domestic system, prospective adoptive parents create
online profiles, print business cards and publish small books in an
attempt to sell themselves to provincial adoption agencies and birth
mothers. According to Sarah Pederson, program manager at Ottawa's
Adoption Council of Canada, the administrative steps and expenses are
wide ranging and guidelines are generally set by the provincial or
territorial Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
The wait times for private adoption can be excruciating and control is
wrenched out of the hands of applicants as they wait to be picked by a
young woman who gleans from a picture and a few short paragraphs that
they just might be the perfect family for the baby she cannot keep.
Denice GrantSmith and her husband, Lewis, are trying to arrange a
private domestic adoption by posting on Web sites such as Canada
Adopts!, and pushing their parent profiles to agencies. Ms.
GrantSmith, herself an adoptee, says that they have spent $6,000 to
$7,000 to date on a homestudy, Web site development, agency
registration and the printing of profiles. For the entire process, she
expects to pay "$20,000 at least," once parent-training classes,
counselling and legal fees, and agency fees have been factored in.
In the public system, it is the kids who must be marketed to
prospective parents. They are typically older, classified as high need
and have often been removed from a negligent environment. Virginia
Rowden, director of social policy at Ontario Association of Children's
Aid Societies (OACAS), says that there are at least 9,000 children in
Ontario alone available for adoption. Even up against the projected
expenses for private and international adoption, these children are
often the hardest to place.
And the odds of placement might soon get even slimmer. Pending
legislation in Ontario would require future adoptive parents to pay
out-of-pocket for a lawyer to finalize their child's adoption. "Unless
a fund is established to pay legal costs, free adoption services in
Ontario will cease," says Marcelo Gomez-Wiuckstern, director of
communications for OACAS.
Then there are international adoptions. These are generally
facilitated through an international adoption agency and the
requirements and expense can vary widely depending on the child's
country of origin.
After two high-risk pregnancies that resulted in emergency Cesarean
sections, Maike McCaskell and her husband decided to adopt a
third child through international channels. Two years after starting
the application process, Ms. McCaskell and her mother-in-law flew to
China in August, 2004, to pick up a 10-month-old baby girl. Within an
hour of landing in Guangdong province, Ms. McCaskell was holding her
new daughter.
"I know that people don't necessarily believe me, but it's the exact
same thing as when you give birth and they put the baby in your arms,"
Ms. McCaskell says.
The McCaskells estimate that they spent a total of $25,000 to $27,000
on the adoption of their daughter. In addition to the homestudy,
physicals, police checks and agency fees, the Mc-Caskells also paid
for the translation of all of their documents and sundry government
fees. Ms. McCaskell was required to stay in China for two weeks, and
she estimates that the expenses related to the trip cost her $7,000.
Michael Blugerman, an adoption practitioner in Toronto, says that
China is one of the least-expensive countries of origin for foreign
adoptions, averaging $23,000, including travel and incountry costs. In
other countries, most notably Russia, the expense can be closer to
$45,000 --not including personal expenses.
Cathy Murphy, director of adoption services and acting executive
director of Children's Bridge international adoption agency, says that
mandatory incountry stays vary significantly -- from two weeks in
China to eight weeks in Kazakhstan.
The high cost of adopting from a foreign country prompted the National
Bank of Canada to introduce the International Adoption Financial
Package 10 years ago. According to Citizenship and Immigration Canada,
inter-country adoption has been declining since 2003. But Linda Sefc,
NBC regional manager, says that the loan program has been increasing
in popularity, and that the average amount borrowed is $35,000 to
$50,000.
Even for couples with deep pockets, the adoption process can quickly
wear them down. Money can buy few guarantees. The private system in
Canada is suffering from a tremendous shortage of available newborns;
fewer than 100 private adoptions were completed last year from the
pool of hundreds, if not thousands, of couples waiting to adopt.
The wait times for international adoption average two to three years,
according to Ms. Murphy. But Mr. Blugerman says that the popular China
program is now a four-to five-year wait, and the landscape is
constantly changing. "The most active new area is Africa --
particularly Ethiopia and South Africa. I think [the wait] could be
under a year. Some, like Korea, have slowed down to a dribble. There's
more of a nationalistic fervour everywhere. The first principle is
that these kids should be raised in their own country."
But with a dearth of newborns available for domestic adoption, an
unpredictable international adoption system and reluctance on the part
of parents to take on children through the public system who might
require special care, frustration over the inability to build a family
is mounting. Regardless of resources, some parents worry that they
could be waiting forever for a child.
Laura, who asked that her real name not be used, has been waiting to
adopt a baby through private Ontario channels for two years. "There's
nothing you can do other than wait," she says. "Money isn't an issue.
We're young, we have a nice house and cottage -- we're everything any
birth mother would desire. We can provide a great life for a child,
and it's just not happening for us."
J.
Will someone please explain to me how a legitimate private domestic
adoption can run $50,000? Seriously, what kind of costs and profit
margin are we talking about here?
J.
kippah...@hotmail.com
> J.
Beats me, J. I've read $10,000 - $30,000 elsewhere (Canadadopts, I
think), but we have free health care here so that can't be part of
it.The mind boggles.
Man, this is such an icky article.If there are people out there who
still believe adoption isn't commodified to the hilt up they should
read and deconstruct this.
Marley Greiner
<kippah...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:69c40a74-c2f4-4047...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>
> Will someone please explain to me how a legitimate private domestic
> adoption can run $50,000? Seriously, what kind of costs and profit
> margin are we talking about here?
> J.
Beats me, J. I've read $10,000 - $30,000 elsewhere (Canadadopts, I
think), but we have free health care here so that can't be part of
it.The mind boggles.
Man, this is such an icky article.If there are people out there who
still believe adoption isn't commodified to the hilt up they should
read and deconstruct this.
They sound like they're looking for a new couch:
>Couples view video clips of a four-year-old born to
>a drug-dependent mother, puzzling over whether she will be the right
>fit for their family. And then there are those who literally travel to
>opposite ends of the Earth to pick up a son or daughter they've only
>seen in a photograph.
Marley
Bianca
"J." <jmd...@aol.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:1e77082b-6a43-4b44...@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
> fit for their family. And then there are those who literally travel to
> opposite ends of the Earth to pick up a son or daughter they've only
> seen in a photograph.
>
to see pictures of the children we adopt before we adopt them! How doo they
get pictures of the kids?!
Robibnikoff
"Bianca" <Bia...@ns.it> wrote in message
news:4811ceee$0$41660$4faf...@reader4.news.tin.it...
Excuse me? Isn't that the norm in foreign adoptions?
--
Robyn
Resident Witchypoo
BAAWA Knight!
#1557
Bianca
"Robibnikoff" <witc...@broomstick.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:67e3aoF...@mid.individual.net...
> Excuse me? Isn't that the norm in foreign adoptions?
> --
within a crertain age bracket (0-7, 7-teen, teen-up, no more than that) and
can specify if we are willing to accept serious sicknesses (I gave out
"reversible illnesses: that means things that you can work on, can fix with
proper medicine and care, operations. Couldn't face Down's sindrome, or
serious mental illness). When you are called and they tell you there is a
child waiting for you in Russia or Gabon or whereever you go, they tell you
his/her story, give you the medical history (a rough outline) and off you
go. You see your child when you're there. How can you choose a child with a
picture??
Robibnikoff
I don't know, but I know people that adopted babies from China that saw a
picture before they saw the baby in person.
Bianca
> I don't know, but I know people that adopted babies from China that saw a
> picture before they saw the baby in person.
> --
China didn't sign the Hague Convention, and we can't adopt from there yet.
If you think about it... why SHOULD couples see pictures before agreeing to
adopt. If you have a baby biologically it's not as if you see a picture
before you get pregnant and agree then to go on with the pregnancy. The baby
you have is the baby you get, no choice, thank God. And a picture shouldn't
really make any difference. In some cases, you may be given a picture after
you've signed before a notary agreeing to adopting that child, and right
before meeting the child. But not before you've agreed and signed. Imagine a
child's picture beeing passed around to dozens of couples. Terrible! :-(
Robibnikoff
>
> "Robibnikoff" <witc...@broomstick.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
> news:67eqavF...@mid.individual.net...
>> I don't know, but I know people that adopted babies from China that saw a
>> picture before they saw the baby in person.
>> --
>
> China didn't sign the Hague Convention, and we can't adopt from there yet.
Um, okay.
> If you think about it... why SHOULD couples see pictures before agreeing
> to adopt.
I don't really see what the big deal is. Then again, adopting a child isn't
something I've ever thought about.
Julia Rollings
I received a photo of each of my six children, along with their
allocation paperwork. For my three children who were "waiting
children" (i.e. there had been nobody on the lists of prospective
parents who were willing to adopt them, due to the children's ages,
sibling status and/or disabilities) I received their photos when I
expressed interest in adopting those particular children.
It is the norm to receive a photo at allocation in most countries. My
children were born in South Korea, Taiwan and India, but I know
friends who adopted from many other countries (Thailand, the
Philippines, Ethiopia, China, Brazil, Fiji) also received photos at
the time they received their children's details. Usually you are not
handed the photo until you accept the assignment of that particular
child, based on the paperwork description of the child, and sign the
documents saying you accept that child.
I don't see how it could hurt to receive a photo, and for me it was a
vital link to the older child I was about to commit to for life (and,
in the case of India, was going to have to wait over a year to meet).
It helped me to become attached to the image of that child, in the
same way I felt an emotional attachment to my daughter's ultrasound
image.
Julia
J.
We, too, received photos of our son on referral. I didn't (and don't)
see any problem with it. In fact, I can't imagine accepting a
referral without having seen a photo of the child, particularly given
the sterling reputation of international adoption at the time ('92).
It was five months before we actually met him and another eight or
more before he came to the States. I'm not sure I would have stuck
with it the first five months without those photos.
J.
Bianca
>It was five months before we actually met him and another eight or
>more before he came to the States. I'm not sure I would have stuck
>with it the first five months without those photos.
Why? I mean, why is the photo that important?
Julia Rollings
For myself, the photos of my son and daughter helped me cope with the
19 months I had to wait from accepting the referral of my children to
actually meeting them. In that time we were notified that my son had a
condition (a very enlarged spleen and liver) that could indicate a
very serious, potentially fatal, underlying medical problem. The photo
had made him "real" to us, and it helpted to keep us focussed on him
as a person - not just on the idea of us having another son. Whenever
I was finding the waiting time starting to overwhelm me, looking at
his photo was enough to keep me going.
Yes, we could have done it without a photo - but what would have been
gained by withholding it?
Julia
Bianca
"Bianca" <Bia...@ns.it> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:481374d5$0$35964$4faf...@reader2.news.tin.it...
without seeing your child? Does it make such a difference? I can't really
see that..
Steve White
<1e77082b-6a43-4b44...@d1g2000hsg.googlegroups.com>,
"J." <jmd...@aol.com> wrote:
> Will someone please explain to me how a legitimate private domestic
> adoption can run $50,000? Seriously, what kind of costs and profit
> margin are we talking about here?
Facilitators have to get paid, you know.
steve
Robibnikoff
Why do you think it's not? I mean, my aparents couldn't have a photo of me
prior to the adoption because I wasn't born yet, but I'm sure they would
have loved to have had one.
I had a picture of my dog before I adopted her ;)
Bianca
"Robibnikoff" <witc...@broomstick.com> ha scritto nel messaggio
news:67kfniF...@mid.individual.net...
> I had a picture of my dog before I adopted her ;)
> --
ROTFL!! :-D
there you go...! QoD :)
Robibnikoff
Yep, she's the buff colored one right in the middle of the second picture :)
Robibnikoff
Shit, did I forget the URL?
2nd picture, puppy right in the middle, front row.