November is National Adoption Awareness Month #Wordless Wednesday #onpoli
November is one of my favourite advocacy months here because it’s National Adoption Awareness Month. That means multiple opportunities to remind people there are 7, 500 kids available for adoption in Ontario right now. That’s down since the Liberal government implemented a few changes to legislation. I’ve been advocating for adoption and child welfare issues for a decade now and I am all too aware that a few short years ago, the number of children waiting for permanent homes was closer to 10,000 kids. That’s progress. But, even one child is far too many. This is my Wordless Wednesday post for the week. I know it’s not so wordless, but I have far too much to say about foster care and adoption and what needs to happen so that every child in Ontario has a home.
Thirteen years ago we were told there were no healthy infants available for adoption in London, Ontario. Less than one year later we got the call that a six week old Healthy baby girl had been matched with us, with our home. Her birth parents, who we have never met, chose our profile out of 23 or more potential couples. I hope to meet them both one day and thank them for the most precious gift ever – parenthood. My family was built out of love through adoption, after a health care crisis and infertility. People ask me all the time how or why we adopted domestically. They also ask how that experience was. I often say: Just look at my two beautiful girls. How could I ask for anything more?
If you need more information about adoption, contact London-Middlesex Children’s Aid Society
(519-455-9000) Or click on the AdoptOntario ad on the side of my blog. Every single child in Ontario, in every province of this amazing country, should have a permanent home.
9 Comments
Sandy A
What great pics of your family, Paula 🙂 I had no idea this was National Adoption Awareness Month…thank you for sharing such important information with us.
Margarita Ibbott
I love your family so much. You are lucky to have those girls and they are VERY LUCKY to have you and Jim.
Randa Derkson
Wow that’s a lot of children without families. Breaks my heart.
Kristen
One of my best friends adopted all 3 of her children here in Quebec. One son and two daughters who are full sisters. So happy you were able to become parents through adoption.
De Balino
Amazing. I love your non-wordless-wordless-Wednesday post 🙂 It’s true. Adoption is such love. Congratulations, and thank you for being such an advocate for something so important!
Kathryn Lavallee
Well said, Paula. I also think more needs to be done to encourage adoption of older children, since the heartbreaking truth is that while there is generally a long waiting list for infant adoption (up to five years in SK), there are few families willing to adopt an older child that needs love just as much.
Shayna Murray
Kathryn is right. In our province it IS almost impossible to adopt an infant. I know people who have been on the waiting list for literally years. But there are many older kids that would love a permanent home and a family to call their own.
I am also an adoptee and at the moment am searching for my siblings. Wish me luck!
Andrea Rust
My husband and I have been called to adoption but know we are not quite in a position to do so yet. We love hearing adoption stories and can’t wait until we have our own.
Debra Holloway
I think it takes special people to adopt a child and make that child feel like he or she is one of their own. I think more people should consider adopting older children rather than just infants. Children of all ages need a loving home and family.