Fighting to bring the family home

For nearly a year, the Segals have lived as a family divided -- after the bureaucratic process of adopting twin boys in West Africa left them in limbo on two different continents.

Andrea Bastin now lives in Ghana with the couple's adopted twins, 19-month-old Will and Charlie.

Meanwhile, husband Michael Segal has remained on Bowen Island, working relentlessly to pay for the mounting cost of bringing his wife and adopted children home while also caring for their biological son, six-year-old Finn.

But as long as Citizenship and Immigration Canada refuses to issue a visa for the couple's adopted sons, the family is faced with indefinite separation.

"The hardest has been being away from my husband. We're really a family divided, which is no way to live. So that's been difficult and being away from my six-year-old," said 37-year-old Bastin, who had returned to B.C. for a month to celebrate Finn's sixth birthday, leaving her twins in the care of a friend.

She returned to Ghana Saturday.

"[In Ghana], I just put one foot in front of another and I'm not thinking about how difficult it is or isn't. My fight is much bigger. It's getting home," Bastin said.

The family's ordeal stems from an honest mistake involving a fake death certificate submitted to immigration officials, unbeknownst to the B.C. couple. The paperwork raised suspicions about the legitimacy of the adoption, says Bastin.

Their odyssey began last summer when Bastin and Segal heard through a friend who was working at the Royal Seed Orphanage near Kasoa, Ghana, about twins who had arrived.

The boys were born prematurely and their mother died in childbirth. Their father was elderly, in his 70s, and already had several children to look after. Given his limited means, the boys were given up.

Despite the fact they'd never been to Africa, Bastin and Segal knew they wanted to adopt the boys. In August 2009, Bastin, her mother and son Finn travelled to Ghana to meet the twins and complete the adoption process.

"When we went and met them at the orphanage, my heart exploded. It was just like when my son was born," recalls Bastin.

By September, Bastin and her husband, a home builder, were granted approval of the adoption by Ghanian authorities. They also had approval from the B. C government.

Bastin promptly submitted an application to the Canadian High Commission in Accra for a permanent residency visa to bring her boys home.

Unfortunately, a death certificate to prove the death of the twins' biological mother turned out to be bogus, raising red flags among immigration officials in a region where child-trafficking is a serious issue.

A relative of the biological family was told incorrectly by village officials to go to Accra to obtain the death certificate, Bastin says. Once there, he paid an official for the document, which turned out to be forged.

Bastin says she suspects someone saw an opportunity to make some extra cash and took advantage of the family member. It turned out the document should have come from the village in the first place.

But it was already too late.

Canadian officials refused to issue a visa, and a subsequent re-application in December -- in which the genuine certificate was submitted, along with hospital records and an affidavit from the biological father stating his wife was indeed dead -- could not reverse the error.

On Jan. 15, the family were told the case was closed and that the High Commission was not convinced of the true whereabouts of the mother.

Bastin launched an appeal, which was denied. In April, immigration officials said the family's only alternative was to pursue citizenship -- an often lengthy process -- on behalf of their children, says Bastin.

Despite re-mortgaging their house to pay for legal and travel costs, which have now mounted to nearly $80,000, and the emotional stress of indefinite separation, the couple have been extraordinarily patient.

Still, Bastin and Segal, who have spent only two of the previous 11 months together, now feel they've reached their limit.

"Of course there are situations when kids are in dangerous situations. And I'm not saying an immigration officer shouldn't be extraordinarily careful when processing adoptions, or be aware of the circumstance or a particular climate of a country," says Bastin.

"But to [not understand that this is

a country] who in terms of their infrastructure is 100 years behind Canada, in terms of registries and vital statistics, it's just ridiculous," she says.

John Weston, Conservative MP for West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast, has been a staunch supporter. He has personally written a letter to immigration officials and has spoken to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney.

After a Thursday phone conversation with a senior immigration official, Weston says he feels hopeful there may be a turn of events and that the children may be allowed home soon.

"My sympathies are completely with the family. They are a wonderful couple, they are committed to their babies who have been given to them as adopted children by the Ghanaian authorities. And they've been very gracious in their understanding that the hindrances arise from a legitimate concern, that we need to cut down on human trafficking," said Weston.

Johanne Nadeau, spokeswoman for Citizenship and Immigration Canada, said the department is aware of the case, but said she could not comment specifically due to privacy laws.

However, Nadeau said foreign adoptions are complex processes and delays may arise when there are questions about the legitimacy of documents.

Meantime, Bastin and Segal say they don't question for a second their decision to adopt.

Full of pride, Bastin recounts nursing her children into healthy toddlers from the skeletal nine pounds each they weighed when she first met them at nine months of age.

She has watched them take their first steps, seen the delight they took in receiving their first Christmas presents and the joy of her elder son playing with his brothers, she says.

"I question the functioning of our immigration system," says Bastin. "Immigration is a very broken, underfunded department. And it's been broken for a long time, and at the end of the day what you have to consider is immigration officers need to follow what is in the best interest of a child.

"So I ask you, what is in the best interest of children: to languor in orphanages -- or to get home to loving families?"

lsin@theprovince.com

http://www.theprovince.com/mobile/iphone/story.html?id=3207724