More infants are placed through direct and agency adoptions, than through government adoption, because birth parents want to choose who will raise their child. Imagine giving the most precious thing you have ever had to someone you have never met and know nothing about! Birth parents choose adoption because they love their children and want the best for them. They want all the information. They want to meet the potential adoptive parents, review the home study and ask questions. Birth parents usually ask for a commitment to continued contact, letters and photos.

Most adoptive parents are initially reluctant about open adoption. The training this agency provides will help you to understand that open adoption is better for you, and for your child. Many adoptive parents find it comforting to meet the birth parents, talk to them about their social and medical history, and be able to contact them if future medical questions arise. As the child grows, the birth parents hope to visit and get to know their child, typically three or four times a year. Many times, as birth parents see how well the child is doing over the first year or so, their life may change, they may move away, and contact may become less frequent. Sometimes the child’s birth grandparents become a part of the child’s life, or the birth mother develops a good relationship with the adoptive family and becomes something like an “auntie” to all the children in the family. Adoptive parents often invite birth parents to special occasions. Children do well, when they know they are adopted and who their birth family is. As one adoptive family said, “How can there ever be too many people to love a child?”

Families interested in applying to Christian Adoption Services' domestic adoption program must complete all the application documents, fill out the home assessment questionnaires, and complete a home study with a social worker. They must also attend the training workshops provided and participate in a Baby Basics class, in order to learn about the care of newborns, before a child is placed with them. After the placement, they are required to send photos and letters to birth parents, and visit four times a year, although many birth parents request more visits.

Once a prospective adoptive family is approved to adopt, their name is placed in the “Parent Bank”. They provide the agency with a twelve-page photo album, depicting themselves, their home, their hobbies and lifestyle. The agency creates a one page profile describing the family. A birth parent will be shown four suitable profiles and photo albums. If the birth parent requests more, she will be shown an additional four. When an adoptive family is chosen, a meeting is set up, with a social worker present, so that the birth parents and adoptive parents can get to know each other. The birth parent will be given the opportunity to read the home assessment. Additional meetings between the adoptive parents and the birth mother, birth father, or birth grandparents will not involve agency staff. This is the time to build a relationship, so that the birth family trusts the adoptive parents and learns to feel confident in them and their ability to parent.

Adoptive parents may come to the hospital for a brief visit, when contacted about the birth. It is not recommended that adoptive parents stay all day at the hospital. The birth mother needs time alone and with her support people, in order to get to know her child, to grieve and to make sure she has chosen the right path. Any match is tentative, as birth parents have the right to change their mind at any time prior to the birth, and for 10 days following the signing of the Consent to Adoption.

A birth mother can sign a Consent by a Guardian to Adoption, as soon as 24 hours after the birth. This form names the adoptive parents and makes them joint guardians of the child with the birth mother. If the birth father is known, he will also sign the Consent to Adoption; if unknown, the agency will request the Court to waive his consent. The consenting guardians have 10 full days to revoke consent and have the child returned. Adoptive parents should receive a Family and Medical History of the birth parents, the Medical Report of the child from the hospital, and a copy of the Consent to Adoption, when the child is placed.

At Christian Adoption Services, preparation of court documents is begun, as soon as we receive a copy of the live birth registration. Six to eight weeks after the placement, you will be contacted to sign court documents. Documents are usually filed about six months after the birth; however, the date of finalization will depend on how busy the Court of Queen’s Bench in Edmonton or Calgary is, when the petition is filed. Adoptive parents are not required to be in court. The birth mother, birth father and the Director of Children Services are all served with the court documents, including the home assessment; they are given ten days to contact the Court if they have concerns and object to the finalization of the adoption.

The granting of an Adoption Order has the effect of terminating the rights of the natural parents. In fact, the new birth certificate will indicate that this child is the child of the adopting parents; it does not refer to the adoption. Court Orders can be appealed within 30 days, but only on the grounds that a mistake or fraud has occurred. Cases where adoption orders have been set aside are extremely rare.

The agency asks birth parents to give adoptive parents time to parent and to get to know their child. We ask them not to expect more than three or four visits a year, but many would like once-a-month visits. Birth parents choose a Christian agency, believing that Christian parents will be more likely to follow through on their commitment than a non-religious family. We ask that our applicants follow through on their commitments to birth parents or birth grandparents.

As a Christian Agency, our expectation is that couples will bring their children up to know that God loves them, and that they will involve them in church activities. Parents need to be open and honest with their child, lovingly telling his/her adoption story. Adoptive parents should cuddle their infant and tell them, “I’m so glad I adopted you”, so that the child will always perceive adoption as a good thing. Talking to the child about their adoption before they can understand it, opens the door to talking about their adoption when they are old enough to ask questions. Read about adoption. There will be times in your child’s life when he will want to talk about it; be open and learn what to say.

An adopted child can have different needs and different gifts than his or her parents. Always be sensitive of his/her differences and make a distinct effort to look for the areas in which the child may excel, always encouraging natural traits, interests and abilities, even though they may be different from those of the adopted family.

One adoptive parent noticed that her toddler was always looking for sticks to knock around rocks. She had raised other children, and none had the fascination with hitting things with sticks the way her adopted son did. As an adoptive mother she wanted to develop any gifts or talents her son had. She wondered if his birth father played hockey, and although the birth mother remembered the birth father having trophies, she did not know a lot about him. This curious adoptive mother made an attempt to learn more. She had little interest in hockey, but she purchased hockey sticks, enrolled her son in pre-school skating, encouraged him and continued to investigate to learn more. This adoptive family wanted to know more, because they felt that one day their son would ask questions about his birth father.

Eventually the puzzle was solved. The adoptive parents, with the help of the Agency and information from the birth mother, were able to meet the birth father. He was not a hockey player, as they had suspected, but a golf pro. The adoptive father was an avid golfer. This child was in a family where he would have opportunities to develop his gifts.

Problems can occur with natural children as well as with adopted children, and the Agency encourages parents to seek help if problems arise during the child’s growing years.

Although many adoptions begin as open adoptions, families can lose contact with biological parents. The Post Adoption Registry This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is set up to facilitate contact with the biological parents, once the child is 18. Adult adopted children and birth parents may apply for identifying information. The Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act also allows adult adopted persons, birth parents, siblings and other interested persons to register with a passive registry.