Alberta Continued...

This is some recent news from the Alberta Children's Services concerning the adoption of children with medical needs.

You can read it for yourself at:
http://www.child.gov.ab.ca/whatwedo/adoption/page.cfm?pg=What%27s%20New%21

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International Adoption Program (March 2007)

Alberta recognizes the important role adoptive families play and their
commitment to enrich their lives, along with their communities,
through international adoptions.

International adoptions are changing on an ongoing basis.
Increasingly, countries are introducing international adoption
programs that encourage parents from other parts of the world to adopt
children with very complex medical conditions. These types of adoption
requests are relatively new to Alberta. It is important Alberta
families have the information they need to make informed decisions
when considering international adoptions of children with very complex
medical conditions.

To ensure these types of requests are handled in a transparent and
consistent manner, Alberta Children's Services will work with key
stakeholders and other Alberta government ministries to develop a
policy that will guide the process of accepting international
referrals. While this policy is under development, international
applications will be accepted and processed, and referrals of children
with very complex medical conditions will be reviewed on a
case-by-case basis. Children's Services will consult with Alberta
medical experts prior to making decisions related to these adoption
requests. International adoption families are encouraged to work with
Children's Services' staff during this time.

For families wishing to adopt a child from another country who does
not have complex medical needs, it is business as usual, and these
families will see no change.

The Alberta government invites Albertans to provide their input on
this very important issue by emailing CS.communications @ gov.ab.ca.

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SO... what do they mean by "very complex medical conditions"???

HIV/AIDS? Heart defects? Any medical condition that MAY be associated with a genetic syndrome (because there are MANY of those- most of which are ruled out after proper genetic testing)?

There needs to be a lot of clarity here with respect to what ACS is "thinking". It seems that advocates of Waiting Children may have won the first battle, but the war continues.

Please encourage ACS to follow the lead of families who wish to adopt children with known medical needs. As long as families are educated about a medical need and truly realize the implications that a medical need may have on their lives, they need to be SUPPORTED, not patronized and treated with suspicion!

I wouldn't worry about needing to be Albertan to comment. They should know that their review is being watched around the world.