Frequently Asked Questions – Agency Adoption

1) Is there a cost to adopt a child? What is the cost?
Yes, there is a cost to adopt a child. An agency adoption is about $9800, which covers the services provided to you and birth parents throughout the adoption process. These fees are broken down into three parts: Becoming an approved applicant, moving on to the active list and placement fees charged to finalize an adoption once the child is in your care.

2) What is the procedure to adopt?
a. Our application to adopt needs to be filled out giving information about yourselves, the child you would accept, and references for yourselves.
b. Once the criminal record check and the request for intervention record check have been returned, you have attended the weekend seminar, and your references have been checked out, we arrange for a home study report to be done by one of our social workers.
c. When the home study report is complete, you are ready to go onto our wait list and write a letter to the birth parents. This is a letter introducing yourselves to them with pictures of you and your life.
Application Forms can be found here.

3) What is the average wait for a child?
The average wait for a family is between six and thirty months.

4) Can the birth parents take the child away from us later?
No, the birth mother or father cannot take the child away. The birth mother and father  signs consents at the time the child is placed and has 10 days in which to revoke those consents.

5) Can we choose the sex of the child?
Most families are accepting of whatever gender the child born would be. If a family were to specify the gender they would accept, it would decrease the number of times when their file would be shown (where child already born).

6) Is there counselling available for us and the birth parents?
Yes, part of the costs involved in an adoption are for this specific purpose. We are here with trained professional social workers to help with every step of the process for both the birth parents and the adopting parents, and their families.