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Originally Posted By JCalvin64@aol.com

Is it legally possible to adopt a child from Canada into the United States? If so, how do I go about doing it? I've already had a homestudy done and have an agency who I am working with in the U.S. Any help would be appreciated.

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Originally Posted By Teresa

In regards to adopting a child from Canada to the U.S. I'm sure that its possible. But the adoptive parents that have homestudys here are waiting forever to get children. We filed in 1987 and have had a homestudy done and updated four or five times and then in 1998 we gave up on the Canadian Gov't. We got on the internet and a agency and in three months we had our daughter home with us. We went to michigan to pick her up. I hope you find the right connections to adopt here in Canada. If you do please post again and let me know. Because we just got our homestudy updated again, as we are wanting to adopt. Our problem now is that if we adopt we want another black child or siblings and you definently don't fine many adoption situations such as that here in Canada. Not unless a birth mother is aware that we're looking. Well, I'm going to go now. Have a nice night.

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Originally Posted By Beckie Hill

I would like basically the same information, but also would like to know cost of an adoption from Canada to US. Contact me at babylogan2000@yahoo.com

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Originally Posted By Missy

Why adopt from Canada when there are 100's of children ready to be adopted in the USA. Look on the www.adoptablekids.com. There are www.precious.org to look at the children up for adoption.

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Originally Posted By Missy

Look at www.adoptablekids.com and www.precious.org for children to adopt. Look at all the adoption site, which is mostly American.

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Originally Posted By Joanne

Congratulations on a successful adoption. I have just read your note posted on adoptionsboard.com and wonder if you could send me the name of the agency (in Michigan) that you used for your adoption. E-mail address is grandprix@cogeco.ca We have all our paperwork completed, but don't know which way to turn at this point as it is all so overwhelming. Any help is appreciated - Thanks in advance

[Cleosmom]

It is entirely possible to adopt to US from Canada....my adoptive parents did it in 1962.....successfully.....so I would think it could still be done today .

[Chantale]

It is psssible to adopt a child from canada to the us, but it is very rare. something like 2 children were adopted into the us from canada last year, and these were special cases. generally the canadian government does not allow children in foster care to be adopted into the us (unless by a family member)... also, in order to adopt an infant you must find a willing canadian mother (which is also unlikely since so many canadians are on waiting lists to adopt an infant from canada)... if you are looking to adopt, why not try adopting an american child from the foster care system, or an american infant of colour? there are many children of colour available for adoption in the us, and the wait is not very long at all.

[csquirrel]

My husband and I are interested in adopting a child/children from Canada. My husband is American Indian and we see all kinds of aboriginal children needing homes in Canada. They want to keep them in their culture, which is understandable, but how do you adopt them? We were told that Canada does not adopt their children out of country. Aboriginal (Canadian Indian) or American Indian - it is all the same culture. And I know their is alot of american indian families that would adopt those children if possible. So any help with this situation would be appreciated.

[Jensboys]

You are correct - aproximately 50% of the children available for adoption in Canada are First Nations. The vast majority of them are only available for adoption to First Nations families. If you qualify, you would more than likely be bumped to the top of the list as they are DESPERATE for aboriginal families willing to adopt.

HOWEVER ... Canada is a signatory to the Hague Convention that requires that children remain in their country of origin unless all other avenues have been exhausted. (which is why next to no children go south to the states, as we have waiting parents here, however 100s of American children (aa infants in particular) are adopted by Canadians each year ... until next year when the USA signs on to the Hague Convention).

What I dont know is if it differs because technically, first nations peoples are considered citizens of North America and are permitted to travel, live and have citizenship in either Canada or the USA freely moving back and forth at will.

SO ... what I would suggest is that you contact the Ministry of Children and Families in the province closest to you and ask them if they would consider an American first nations home for a Canadian First Nations Child.

You might start at www.bcadopt.com as well as a source of info.

I am sure that you are aware that there is a high propensity of Fetal Alcohol Syndrom among aboriginal children, sadly, available for adoption and that you should research the resources in your community.

[Jeanne21]

cs:
You stated that all Aboriginal cultures are the same. I can tell you, by personal knowledge, that this is not the case. I am both Ojibwe and Mohawk. Both cultures are very different. In the case of adopting a Canadian Aboriginal child, the Aboriginal nation from which the child came will try to place the child in their own culture first. If this is not possible, then they will start looking for people to adopt the child who are Aboriginal and in Canada, but not of the same nation... Then they may start looking elsewhere. I also know that many of the children available for adoption are from the Metis nation (mixed Cree, Ojibwe, French and Scottish), and they have a different set of rules for adoption...

[csquirrel]

hey Jeanne21. I realize what you are saying. What I meant was that as far as most aboriginal/indian cultures, they are all similiar - compared to non-native homes. I know that alot of tribes are different - but most non-native homes don't know anything about the cultures. It sounds like the first nations are set up alot like the american indian nations. They search for families within their tribes, then other native families in other tribes, native institutions - then only as a last resort non-native families. But it is very hard to adopt native children in the states. I am not sure why- but we have had no luck getting any help from anybody. My husband is a full blood registered with a federally recognized tribe and we have had no luck. But thanks for the info on canadian adoptions. Any other suggestions is appreciated.

[Jeanne21]

I know that many larger cities in Canada have Aboriginal Children adn Family Services offices that deal specifically with Aboriginal children. I know that Toronto has one, and the website is:
http://www.nativechild.org/
If you contact someone through this website, they may give you information on adopting a Native child from Canada. If not, they may be able to give you information on who you can contact in the US...

My husband and myself are also looking into adopting a second child - our son is biracial and adopted through the CAS but it was quite a nightmare so we are looking into several different options. Can you please email me the info. and roughly the cost involved in adopting from the Michigan agency and how long it took you.

Thanks so much - email type@sentex.net

[Jane101]

I thought I would toss in my two cents here regarding the adoption of aboriginal children from Canada to the USA. I think that is an interesting avenue to pursue, although, I am so surprised that it is difficult to adopt an Aboriginal child in the US. I am from Canada, and we just recently adopted a 4 yr old girl who is registered as a Status Indian here in Canada. I am also registered, however, my hubby is white. That did not pose any problems for us, but the child's band had to approve the adoption as well as the Child and Family Agency we went through. We did not use a Native agency, because they would never return our phone calls and could never find the childrens' files when we called. Long story, I won't go into that here.
After our homestudy was completed, we went into the adoption registry on Oct 7/03, we got the call end of October 03 saying they found a match for us. The three weeks it took was mostly waiting for the child's family agency on her First Nation to approve our adoption. ( there must be no available resources on her first nation). Once, our worker, got approval she called us. So, it was a very short wait for us. We wanted to wait until after christmas to do the transitioning visits. So, now I am at home with an awesome child far beyond what we ever expected.
I would definitely purse the adoption of an Aboriginal child from Canada, although, I think it would be alot of work. Networking on the internet will really help. Try to find people who are knowledgable about adoption in the province you are pursuing. Three provinces with a high number of Aboriginal children waiting for adoptive homes, are British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba. I am from Manitoba. I feel that Alberta is the most progressive towards adoptions, although they do not like to place children outside their province. They told me, (because I am a "registered Indian") that as soon as my homestudy was complete to send it to a particular person for review. I can provide interested individuals with that name if anyone wishes. As it turned out, our wait was so short we never pursued that avenue. I would be very interested to hear any other comments along this line. Or if anyone pursues adoption of an Aboriginal child in Canada, I would be interested in hearing their experiences. We will be adopting another as soon as the Agency allows, as our daughter is bugging us for a sibling already. She has been in our home 3 months now.