Adoptive Parent Info

Thinking of adopting? You’ve come to the right place.

Adoption means many things to many different people, and they choose to adopt for different reasons.

Many adoptive parents are unable to have biological children, but that’s not always the case. Some choose adoption over costly and uncertain infertility treatments, and others prefer to skip the experience of pregnancy altogether. Others just want to grow their families.

Some adoptive parents already have biological children when they decide to adopt, and some feel adoption is their calling. Adoptive parents can start as foster parents, or as a relative or stepparent of the adopted child. Some adoptive parents were adopted as children themselves.

Whatever brings you here, we look forward to meeting you and helping you build your family.

New Mom Holds Her Infant Up and Smiles at Her

How does it work?

Home Study

A homestudy is a mandatory process in which an adoption practitioner gets to know a family or individual who is considering adoption and helps them understand how adoption may impact their lives. At the completion of the homestudy process, the adoption practitioner and the applicants will arrive at a decision about what strengths they can offer a child.

P.R.I.D.E. Training

(Parent Resources for Information Development and Education) is a madatory 27 hour training program for all adoptive applicants and prospective foster parents. It covers a variety of topics that provide useful information about adoption legislation, adoption issues, and about parenting an adopted or foster child.

Build an Adoption Profile

The adoption practitioner helps you to define your “comfort zone” through discussion regarding the birth parents and baby such as gender preference, health, ethnicity, and any other requirements you might wish to implement. An adoptive parent profile is developed, which cover topics such as lifestyle, career, interests, friends, family, hobbies, and other pertinent information.

Create a Personalized Adoption Profile Book

The profile book is a visual presentations containing many pictures of the adoptive parents in their everyday life. The profile book is an opportunity to tell your story in your own words. It allows you to share your story with those considering placing their child for adoption, and helps them to explore the possibility of choosing your family, having this introductory presentation by you.

Wait for a Match

As you wait for a match it is essential to have a good network of family, friends, and neighbours to support you through your adoption process. It’s also helpful to connect with other adoptive parents. One of the most important things you can do while waiting for an adoption match is to let everyone know about your hope to adopt since many adoption connections are made through word-of-mouth referrals. The birth parents are given Parent Profiles to review and when they choose one, the agency will contact you about the potential and suitability of the match.

Meet the Birth Parents

Once the birth parents have selected a couple on the basis of their profile, a face-to-face meeting is facilitated between the birth parents, adoptive couple, and adoption practitioner. This meeting is arranged so that the birth parents and adoptive parents can get acquainted before each party makes a final decision about proceeding, and discuss details of the openness agreement. At this point the adoptive parents will be able to review the child’s social and medical history, as well as that of his or her birth parents. An agreement is set out in writing regarding the child’s care and the logistics of the adoption placement. If the birth parents of the child agree to the adoption, they must provide their consent in writing. They have 21 days to reconsider.

Adjustment Period and Report

The next stage of the process involves what is essentially a trial living period. Once the child has been placed with the potential adoptive parents in their home, the private adoption practitioner must make at least three in-home visits during the first six months, and must prepare what is called a Report on the Adjustment of the Child. This report is submitted by the adoption agency to the Ontario Ministry, which may approve or refuse the adoption outright, based on the conclusions in the Report.

Government Approval and Placement

The placement for adoption must be formally approved by the Ontario Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. Following the completion of the 6 month supervision period, steps will be taken to finalize the adoption in an Ontario court.

Asian and african women holding hands during group therapy session

Open adoption is healthy and beneficial.

We believe that openness in adoption benefits the child as well as the birth mother. Open adoption is a way of honouring the significance of the birth parents and making those connections accessible to the adopted child.

Ongoing communication and contact between the birth parent(s) and the adoptive family can take the form of letters, emails, phone calls or visits. The amount of contact is negotiated and varies from one adoption to another. Open adoption is good for the adopted child as it allows him or her to maintain relationships with important people in his life; as he or she grows older, open adoption allows access to information about his or her origins and background.