Fall, 2011

Nova Scotia has stopped processing adoptive parent applications because there are too many parents looking to adopt and not enough resources to process all the applications.

June, 2008

I had a good meeting with Janet Nearing, the Manager of Adoption and Children in Care for Family and Children's Services recently. I went to meet her in Halifax with the hope that I could find ways in which we could help support the adoption awareness work that is being done in Nova Scotia. We had a great chat together but as we talked, it became clear that the adoption promotion we are hoping to do is not something that the provincial government is presently interested in supporting.

First of all, adoption in and of itself is not "encouraged" as better than any other option. The counsellor seeks to remain neutral on the issue of options. So when someone comes to the Nova Scotia adoption agency, even if they have already thought through the situation and have decided on adoption, the first thing they receive is options counselling and they are walked through all of their options. However, when it comes to adoption, their options are steered in a certain direction.

Janet explained that adoption promotion on the provincial government level is focused only on "children in care" and not toward women or families looking to make a plan of adoption for a child who has not been born yet. This is one reason why Nova Scotia only saw 4 adoptions last year. The only adoption promotion the provincial government does is for children who are already in the province's care. Not only that, but for any women who come to the Family and Children's Services Adoption Agency, the woman is encouraged to parent their child. This is the agency's primary objective - to keep the child with its natural family. So this is a huge hurdle for the birth mother. Her choice to make a plan of adoption is met (at the adoption agency) with resistance as she is encouraged to parent the child.

Janet went on to share how Family and Children's Services has a clear mandate: to keep children with their families. They do not want to be seen as "working for the adoptive family." This means that for an expectant mother who comes to them, the priority is first of all to encourage the mother to parent the child. Secondly, if that is not an option, and adoption is in view, since the priority is to keep the child in the family, adoption among close relatives is encouraged. The last priority is adoption outside of the immediate family.

This is the reality when it comes to adoption in Nova Scotia. I am working to discover how adoption is handled in other provinces in Canada. For example, in Alberta, they have the highest rate of adoption in all of Canada.

I see this situation as a wide open door for us to step in and be a support for women who wish to choose adoption as a beautiful thing. Our community needs to know how adoption has changed and how expectant mothers can choose a family to adopt her child. She can find them on her own and have them go through the normal evaluation process or she can choose from profiles of those who have already applied. She can discuss with the adoptive family how "open" she would like the adoption to be - how much contact she will have with the family or child (if any) and under what terms. These terms are also flexible and they can agree together to change them in the future.

One thing that we as supportive people can do is to help facilitate adoption and encourage expectant mothers who are considering it. As it is, if you are an expectant mother looking at adoption, the odds are against you. First, you have to go to the Family and Children's Adoption agency whose priority is to encourage you to parent the child.

The Nova Scotia Agency Adoption web page is discouraging in its wording. Take a look at it at http://www.gov.ns.ca/coms/families/adoption/AgencyAdoption.html. For example, the first thing a birth mother reads under "Agency Adoption" is "A birth mother may choose to place her child with a child placing Agency or District Office of the Department of Community Services for the purpose of adoption." I find this very cold. What birth mother wants to "place her child" with an "agency?" Yes, it is true that an agency is involved in adoption, but no one wants to place their child with an agency. Wouldn't it be great if the first thing a expectant mother/couple read is something more like, "Considering adoption? This agency can help walk you through the process step by step. We have wonderful family profiles for you to consider who have gone through extensive evaluation and are waiting to hear from us about someone like you and your baby. We are here to support you any way we can." With your help, we can be there to walk them through the process and encourage them all the way. We have work to do!

For those of you who are more politically motivated, please consider taking action on the political level to change laws and procedures for adoption in Nova Scotia. Help raise questions like, "Why is Child and Community Services the only agency able to handle adoption in Nova Scotia (outside of the Home of the Guardian Angel in Halifax)?" "Why is adoption in Nova Scotia treated as 'second rate' to single parenting?" "How can we promote adoption as a positive option in Nova Scotia among women experiencing unplanned pregnancies?"