who's involved?

There are essentially three groups of people who are affected by the legislation around domestic adoption disclosure; the agencies (public and private) that facilitate adoption, the provincial Ministry of Children and Youth Services, and the “adoption triangle” – birth mother, adoptee, and the adoptive family. We are going to take a look first at the structural systems involved in adoption.

There are two ways a family can go about adopting a child domestically. Both are regulated and governed by the Provincial Child and Family Services Act (http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/index.html) and through the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, (www.children.gov.on.ca/CS/en/programs/Adoption/default.htm. ) .

Public Adoption
The first option is to go with public domestic adoption, in other words, adopting through a public or government agency such as Family and Children’s services. With public adoption, the welfare of the child is the primary concern, as such, workers are more concerned with finding the right home for the child than the right child for a couple. The basic steps a person needs to take in public domestic adoption are as follows:
· Attend an information session
· Complete police clearance and medical report
· Attend adoption classes
· Complete family and social histories and provide references
· Get adoption practitioner assigned and complete home study
· Have a child placed with you
· Probationary period (follow-up visits from adoption practitioner)
· Submit post-placement report to ministry in charge of adoption
· Receive adoption order from court
(http://www.canadaadopts.com/canada/domestic_private.shtml)

Private Adoption
The second option is to go with a Private Domestic Adoption, not arranged by a public agency. The name “private” does not mean that the adoption is done in secret, rather that it is done through a private agency. In fact, the majority of private adoptions are “open” adoptions, meaning that there is a varying degree of contact between the birth mother and the adoptive child and family.
The process is very similar, the key difference is that in private adoption the wait for a healthy newborn is much shorter and prospective adoptive couples (and birth mothers) have much more control over the process than with public adoption. In a public adoption, the wait for a child can be up to eight years if you are waiting for a healthy newborn. There are many other children (older and/or with special needs) waiting to be adopted, but if you want a healthy newborn, you will wait.
Another key difference is the cost. There is no cost for public adoption with the exception of legal fees, however, the fees for a private adoption can run anywhere from about $10,000-16,000 (or as high as $18,000). The variation depends on how quickly or easily you can find a child, what method you use to do this, and where the child lives. (http://www.canadaadopts.com/canada/domestic_private.shtml). There are several licensed private adoption facilitators in Ontario, for a full list, please see the following websites: http://www.familyhelper.net/ad/iaa.html or http://www.canadaadopts.com/canada/resources_priagencies.shtml

Ministry of Children and Youth Services
The Ministry of Children and Youth Services administers the Child and Family Services Act, under which public and private adoption agencies are licensed and governed and which “regulates the adoption of children who are living in Ontario, as well as children from other provinces or countries whose adoptions are finalized in an Ontario court.” (http://www.gov.on.ca/children/)

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