Adoption: Open Thread

Oh, if only I were. At a mandatory workshop this weekend we received an
entire full-page flowchart in Comic Sans. Headings, content and all.

Good question! And one we can't definitively answer at the moment.

Once we've completed the application process (we haven't even begun our home
study yet), we'll definitely be putting ourselves on the list for domestic
infant adoption — that's when a pregnant mom picks the home she'll place
her child in. Whether domestic or inter-country, this is really the only way
to adopt a newborn.

We haven't made decisions yet about whether we'll also consider adopting one
of BC's waiting children — these are children in the foster-care system and
are older than babies.

For inter-country adoption, you pick a country and stick with it. That's a
big decision to make in itself, and one we've made little progress on at the
moment. Race isn't at all an issue for us, but transparency in the process
and being able to know for certain that there's no good option for a baby in
their home country is very important to us — and that certainty, from what
I understand at this point, is hard to come by. For that reason, we'll be
looking into options in the U.S., because that works like a domestic
Canadian adoption — a mom picks the family.

Thanks, you!

I'm not sure, but I *think*, depending on the type of adoption you pursue
(and this might even differ by province), you have to have been a resident
for a certain amount of time. Some countries might require at least one
partner to be a Canadian citizen, but I don't think that's ubiquitous, and
my impression is that that's not the case for domestic adoptions. Again, I
could be wrong. I do know that even though I'm not a citizen yet (Greg is) –
it's not a problem for us at all.

I've been fairly overwhelmed (and, actually, in some cases, underwhelmed) by
information online. In BC, the Adoptive Families Association is a treasure
trove of very *good* information: http://bcadoption.com.

I found it most helpful to attend an info session at one of the agencies we
were considering. It was very informative and helpful, and now that we've
begun the actual process, information is abundant. I suppose then, that I
recommend simply approaching people for information.