Response from Minister of Alberta Children's Services

In reply to my letters concerning Alberta's new policies for dealing with the referrals of (internationally adopted) children who have medical needs, the Minister has written (dated April 5, 2007):

Thank you for sharing your feedback about Alberta's International Adoption Program.

We recognize the important role adoptive families play and the committment 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 prorams that encourage parents from other parts of the world to adopt children with very complex medical conditios. These types of adoption requests are relatively new to Alberta.

To ensure these types of requests are handled in a transparent and consistent manner, Children's Services will work with the 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 wil see no change.

The Alberta Government invites Albertans to proviced their input on this very importan issue by emailing CS.communication@gov.ab.ca

Signed by Minister Janis Tarchuk

Thank-you, Minister, for your clear reply. Since I'm not Albertan, I guess I'll be quiet now... (hahaha)...