[anarchamama]

I am having a lot of trouble finding any information about the adoption of non-white children in canada? DH and I would like to adopt an infant, but are open to age and race. Some sources list race as a "special need" that there is a need for families for and some don't......Can soemone explain this to me. We would be open to adopting an aboriginal infant but I can't even figure out if this is legal in canada or if the bands prefer to keep kids in their care?

Help!
Heather

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by anarchamama

I am having a lot of trouble finding any information about the adoption of non-white children in canada? DH and I would like to adopt an infant, but are open to age and race. Some sources list race as a "special need" that there is a need for families for and some don't......Can soemone explain this to me. We would be open to adopting an aboriginal infant but I can't even figure out if this is legal in canada or if the bands prefer to keep kids in their care?

Help!
Heather

Both of our children have some aboriginal heritage and placed with us at birth by their first mothers through a private agency, open adoption in Alberta. Although they both are of mixed heritage, our profiles would not have been shown to their first parents had we not been open to aboriginal heritage. We were told that there were much fewer families willing to consider children of aboriginal heritage.

Neither situation was any trouble. Our DS is registered with his band because his first mother is. He will get the same rights and privileges as other aboriginals from his band. We will not have contact with them however, just his first mother and brother. With DD, her first mother was not registered so she is not either. Both first mothers were not living on a reserve. I understand (we waited with Alberta Children's Services as well) that that all efforts are made to keep children born in the community in that community, whether it be on a reserve or otherwise. If there isn't a proper home for them there, then they look outside the community. At least in Alberta there is an almost separate system for children of aboriginal heritage.

I don't remember where you are from. We had great help with our agency in understanding this. NOt so great with the province. Had to do lots of research ourselves.

But it can be done...

[MOMMYOF2ALMOST3]

Hi Blessed BY Bug
That clears it up for us also. Our sibling group DS and DD have no aboriginal heritage however for our 3rd we are willing to look at this. So it sounds like if the BIRTH MOM is reigistered with a band than the Birthchild is also. I should review our updated HS as the private agency knows we would look at aboriginal heritage however Child Family Services may not becuase their section states Racial Origin and we have stated mixed race Do you think that would cover it?

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by MOMMYOF2ALMOST3

Hi Blessed BY Bug
That clears it up for us also. Our sibling group DS and DD have no aboriginal heritage however for our 3rd we are willing to look at this. So it sounds like if the BIRTH MOM is reigistered with a band than the Birthchild is also. I should review our updated HS as the private agency knows we would look at aboriginal heritage however Child Family Services may not becuase their section states Racial Origin and we have stated mixed race Do you think that would cover it?

If the birthmom is registed, the child CAN also be, but doesn't have to be. It is your choice. We chose to because it was important to Roo's first mom that he is. And it is important to us that we preserve and celebrate his aboriginal heritage.

If I were you, I would MAKE SURE that CFS knows you are interested and willing to consider placement of a child with aboriginal heritage. This was a very specific part of the conversation in both our home studies. Even though we stated we were interested in mixed ethnicity, they specifically asked us about aboriginal history because it does have implication especially if the child is of full heritage. There are things to consider regarding band/tribal involvement that you need to be fully aware of. Although we were interested in contact with first family, we have many concerns about the band's interest in our child. From what we understand, some bands have great interest in how a child from their community is raised in all areas. We did not want to have to consult them regarding our parenting choices, esp when it comes to faith and education. I would make sure you have a specific conversation with your SW or someone who deals with these situations. But usually, children available for adoption to non-aboriginal families are ones that do not have a strong connection to the band. But it is definitely a question to be clarified.

Are you looking at a specific child??? If so, then you should be able to get some clear answers. Do they have a band number? What band are they with? Etc. If you are initerested in general, you can state you are interested in a "non-status Indian" which means that they most generally do not have band contact. That is what my DD is considered as her first mom has not been associated with her band since toddlerhood.

HTH... I tend to go on and on, sorry... that's just me! Hope it works out for you!!!

[CanadianMommyToBe]

BlessedByBug - you have it right on and Mommyof2, you should let CFS know you are open to aboriginal heritage if you and hubby are comfortable with this. One thing you will need to clarify is in terms of band involvement, especially if the child is legal risk. If a child is registered, the band must provide approval for the adoption before it can go through. Some bands will NOT provide this which means that even if you raise the child you will not be able to legally adopt them. Other bands will provide this with some provisions or promises from the adoptive family in terms of maintaining ties with the band. Your worker can clarify this for you. The other thing you could do is state on your home study that you will accept aboriginal placements only if there is no legal risk. I am very comfortable with an aboriginal placement, but would want to know that I could legally adopt the child. I would definately maintain ties with the band, that doesn't bother me, but I would also want to be able to finalize the adoption... just my take.

Carrie

[MOMMYOF2ALMOST3]

Blessed by Bug and Mommy to Be
Our AW with CAS must be aware as I had enquired about twin boys on the site and they were Aboriginal but I will send her an E-Mail to reconfirm that it should be noted in our HS that we would consider Aboriginal Hertiage but I think we said non treaty Indian Status because we wanted to ensure that we could adopt the child and have no implactions from the band. All rather confusing but I will get on it when they are in tomorrow.
Thnks

[anarchamama]

Blessed how long was your wait? DId you adopt in your own province? We have been considering US as I was under the impression that there was simply way to few infants in canada, however we would be more than willing to consider an aboriginal child from canada if there was a need for families.

Thanks
Heather

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by anarchamama

Blessed how long was your wait? DId you adopt in your own province? We have been considering US as I was under the impression that there was simply way to few infants in canada, however we would be more than willing to consider an aboriginal child from canada if there was a need for families.

Thanks
Heather

We are in ALberta and adopted both our kids with the help of a private agency there. We were shown to three situations in Ontario as they had some very specific requests by expecting parents and they couldn't find a suitable family there. None of those worked out.

The wait for DD was just over 13 months (our file was shown 15 times during that period). For DS, our wait was one year plus 8 days from time of approval til he was born.. I must say as well that we were quite open to some specific special needs, healthwise.

Our kids are 27 months apart and the process (although we're still waiting the adoption order for Roo) was a little over four years from our first application til now.

It is true... there are very few infants placed in adoption situations compared to the US. But they are there, if you're open to the possibilities. I do have to add however, that I believe our placements were dependent on more than just our openness to race.

[CanadianMommyToBe]

Originally Posted by anarchamama

Blessed how long was your wait? DId you adopt in your own province? We have been considering US as I was under the impression that there was simply way to few infants in canada, however we would be more than willing to consider an aboriginal child from canada if there was a need for families.

Heather, If you are open to babies or children that are not caucasian, and particularly if you are okay with some (or 100%) native heritage, you have an increased chance of your profile being shown at a private agency because many families have restricted their preference to a caucasian or primarily caucasian child.

Carrie

[CanadianMommyToBe]

Originally Posted by blessedbybug

I believe our placements were dependent on more than just our openness to race.

The more open you are to different situations; race, health history of the birth family, potential prenatal exposure, potential special needs, etc., your profile has the potential to be shown more often which increases your chances for a match.

I would say that the agencies err on the side of caution when showing profiles so if a family said something like "minimal drug use", and the agency knew there was any drug use by the birth mother, they would be less likely to show your profile because the usage is self reported and may be minimized by the birth mother when speaking with the social worker (just using drug use as an example). It is up to the social worker which profiles they show, but they want to ensure that the match is good for the birth parents, the adoptive parents and especially for the child.

Carrie

[MOMMYOF2ALMOST3]

Hi Blessed by BUG and MommytoBe
An update to my last post. Since that post we have been approached for Metis siblings. At this point there are a few areas that need to be looked into that I can not disclose however I spoke with our AW and she has told me that the children are Metis. So I asked what % is Metis and she said 100%. My question ,Is Metis considered 100% aboriignal.? My understanding is that Metis is 50% aboriginal and 50% french, Scottish etc.
Because we are at the preliminary stage she does not have the details of the ** and BD
Tell me, with your experience what is 100% Metis.
Mommytobe can tell you I am not usually this dense on areas of adoption but this is confusting me
MTB FYI I have been redirected to CAS
Thnks

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by MOMMYOF2ALMOST3

Hi Blessed by BUG and MommytoBe
An update to my last post. Since that post we have been approached for Metis siblings. At this point there are a few areas that need to be looked into that I can not disclose however I spoke with our AW and she has told me that the children are Metis. So I asked what % is Metis and she said 100%. My question ,Is Metis considered 100% aboriignal.? My understanding is that Metis is 50% aboriginal and 50% french, Scottish etc.
Because we are at the preliminary stage she does not have the details of the ** and BD
Tell me, with your experience what is 100% Metis.
Mommytobe can tell you I am not usually this dense on areas of adoption but this is confusting me
MTB FYI I have been redirected to CAS
Thnks

From my understanding, Metis is considered an aboriginal group. Metis people are 1/2 Native Canadian (in our cases, Cree...) 1/2 European. I'm not sure what your CW meant by 100% Metis. It might be that the parents are both Metis, which would make the kiddos full Metis. In our case, both of our kiddos' first moms are Metis and first dads are of European descent (CC). So our kids are no more than a 1/4 Cree. Does that make sense? You'll need to find out more of the kiddos' heritage and I'm sure you will with more info.

Also just FYI... the ** in your post automatically happens because the initials you used for bmom are also a medical term short form that can be offensive. The abbreviation used on this form is either pbmom (if the child is not placed yet, stands for POTENTIAL birthmom) or emom (expecting mom, if the child is not born yet) or first mom (or bmom, if child is placed in an adoptive/foster home). It is good to remember that parents are not birthparents until their children are placed and TPR is signed. ETA: I just read that you are working with CAS which means the kids are available for adoption already?

I look forward to how this situation works out for you! Do keep us posted!

[CanadianMommyToBe]

Hi MommyOf2Almost3 - I emailed you directly with a response, but the quick answer is that originally that is where the Metis' came from - French Fur Traders married native women (primarily in Manitoba) and raised families, and as such a distinct native group resulted, the Metis, however in terms of the law and rights, etc, the descendants of this group are considered 100% aboriginal (provided their parents are both Metis).

Carrie

[MOMMYOF2ALMOST3]

Hi
100% Metis is exactly that . BMom and BDad are Metis...we still have to find that out. We should be hearing from our AW tomorrow. I could not understand why** kept on appearing even after I had edited the post. Thnks for the info. There is 1 other piece of the puzzle with htis potential match. The Fparents would like to adopt but not for another 3 years? We have been advised that it could be a legal risk but they are looking for a family that could work with CAS through this?
No experience with this does anyone else have experience.
We are working with a private agency as well as CAS

[BabsCanada]

We adopted thru SK Social Services. In completing the lengthy checklist of what we would and wouldn't accept, we were told to ignore 'aboriginal' because they weren't placing aboriginal children with white families. It's been a long time now, but I think we did check 'caucasian' only.

At any rate, the first referral that we got was for the baby that would become our daughter; birthmom is Cree, birthfather unidentifed but white. SW did tell us that this was an extraordinary situation, in that birthmom was going outside of her band, that she had little to do with her band (which incidentally wasn't true - she was receiving financial assistance for education); also, we were told that birthmom was only 1/2 Cree (also not true - both her parents were full). We were also told that dd can apply for registration with the band when she is 18, and that she would then be eligible for education assistance as well.

This remains confusing to me! that we were told we would never be given an opportunity to consider aboriginal, but I am grateful for a system that gives birthmoms a choice, the best choice for her child, regardless of race.

Ours is an open adoption, and dd has contact with her birthmom and siblings, and will be able to learn about and accept their culture and ours, because that's who she is (we're all becoming quite blended culturally!)

Babs