Local couples left with nothing but grief

16 July 2009

Local couples left with nothing but grief

ADOPTION: Bankrupt

Posted By RACHEL PUNCH, THE SUDBURY STAR

Posted 1 hour ago

Natalie and Chris Fournier turned to international adoption after trying for five years to have a child.

The Val Caron family was about three-quarters of the way through a two-year process to adopt a child from Ethiopia.

"He has been a part of our family for a year and a half, this child. He might not have a face, but he has a name," said Natalie, 32.

"His room is full of his stuff. I have clothes ready for him and a crib."

The Fourniers' dreams were shattered on Monday when Natalie heard through a friend the adoption agency -- Imagine Adoption of Cambridge, Ont. -- was bankrupt.

It is one of two agencies in the province that deals with adoptions from Ethiopia.

The family has already invested more than $20,000 and a year and a half in the process. Now, they don't know what will happen next.

"It's very hard emotionally," said Natalie. "It's not the money that is important. It's the year and a half and the child we lost.

"For us to start over is so devastating."

The Fourniers are one of about 400 families across the country in the process of adopting children through the agency.

They are also one of at least three families from Greater Sudbury who were in the midst of adopting from Ethiopia through Imagine Adoption.

Continued After Advertisement Below

Advertisement

Michelle Levis, 32, and her husband Bruce Doran, 34, of Copper Cliff, were about seven months into the process.

The couple expected to pick up a daughter, whom they had already named Penny, in December 2010.

The couple was renovating their home. They were researching Ethiopia and Michelle had already started filling out a baby book.

"We found out really impersonally, through the Internet, that everything has fallen through," said an emotional Michelle.

The families have not been officially notified by the agency or BDO Dunwoody, which has been appointed the bankruptcy trustee, about the bankruptcy. The information was spread through Internet forums and the media.

The families have tried calling the agency and the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, which licenses the agency. They have also contacted local MPs and MPPs to try to get help.

"We are just hoping for a miracle of some kind," Michelle said.

"We were always thinking not this Christmas, but next Christmas we would be picking her up in Africa. Now everything has fallen apart."

The couple has invested thousands in the process, but like the other two local couples, it's not about the money.

"If it's just money, I'm sure we could find a way to just keep things going or to find a new direction," Michelle said. "Our biggest fear is to fall back to zero and to start over and lose everything."

Sarah and Alex Haywood, also of Copper Cliff, were about five months into the process to adopt a child from Ethiopia.

"We were ready to start a family and decided to adopt first before we had any biological children because right now, there is an AIDS crisis in Ethiopia," said Sarah, 29.

The country has an estimated six million orphans.

"It's devastating for us," Sarah said. "We don't care about the money ... We would pay it all again. We made this choice as a family to make a difference for a child who is stuck living in an orphanage and now we don't know why that is not going to happen now."

It's really devastating for other parents who have already been matched with a child, but haven't picked them up yet. Dozens of children are in transition homes in Ethiopia and the parents aren't sure what is going to happen to them.

It's unclear exactly how many children are in these transition homes. Media reports have pegged it at between 50 and 70.

Laura Dougan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, said that number has not yet been confirmed.

"We have been in contact with the federal government and foreign adoption authorities, particularly to ensure the safety of the children who are living in the transition homes," she said.

The ministry is "working hard" to get information for families about their options.

"I know how difficult this situation must be for parents and all of the adoptive families involved with this agency," Dougan said. "Ministry officials have been in constant contact with (BDO Dunwoody) regarding how families that were being served by the agency may be assisted.

"The ministry has requested a written plan from the lawyer representing the board about how they plan to assist families... with particular concern for those families whose adoptions have been completed or who had already been matched with children."

The ministry is also in the process of setting up a 1-800 number for parents. It will be posted on the website http://www.children.gov. on.ca/.BDO is also posting updates at www.bdo.ca/imagineadoption.

Parents affected by the bankruptcy are collecting signatures on a petition at http://www.ipetitions.com/peti t i o n / S aveOur D r e amofAdoptingInternatio/ signatures- 20.html.

Article ID# 1658769