To our MLA

Sent August 19th:

I'm writing to you to start as I'm unsure as to where else I should direct my frustrations and you've been helpful to me in the past.

My husband and I are currently waiting to adopt a child from China. We started the process over a year ago, spent April - August 2006 completing paperwork including our Home Study and were logged into China's system in October 2006. Currently parents receiving their referrals for children from China waited about 21 months, but that wait is increasing rapidly and projected to go much higher. We've been warned to expect a wait of 3-4 years before receiving our referral. That's all part of the game, we understood that going in...

Recently we received a letter from Janet Nearing, Manager of Adoption and Children in Care with NS Community Services. Within the letter, she warned us that with the extended wait we (and other families as this was a form letter sent to many, I'm sure) were not going to receive our referral before our Home Study paperwork expires. Apparently a Home Study is good for only two years in Nova Scotia, ours will expire in late spring of 2008 with a projected wait until fall 2009 - fall 2010 before our referral is received. If a referral is sent to us while our Home Study is expired, we are not eligible to accept the child. Therefore, we are recommended to update our Home Study before it expires.

It is my understanding that most other provinces in Canada require their applicants to update a Home Study by completing a few questions to ensure no great changes have happened in their lives. However, in Nova Scotia, we are required to redo everything from medical checks, financial records to Child Abuse Register checks and Criminal Records checks. We need to re-interview with a social worker, and finally submit all these documents to Community Services in application - again - to be eligible to adopt.

Needless to say, the time and money involved in this process will be extensive. It is likely this update will cost our family $1000.00. We are completing this adoption through loan and credit and so this extra expense will be difficult to obtain. Even with the increasing wait times, and projected wait of over two years, it was never mentioned to us during the process that the Home Study would not last us the duration of the process.What is also frustrating is this documentation isn't even required by the Chinese officials, and will not be sent to China. After spending $1000.00, the document will sit in our file in the NS gov't file.

In the end, we will do what we need to do to receive the child we are seeking. However, I am angry and frustrated about this obstacle that seems unique to Nova Scotia. Is there anything you can do to help me address this issue?