1. Is a home study prepared by a private practitioner valid for the public system?
Yes it is. In the reverse, a home study completed by the CAS may not be complete enough for international adoption purposes, so an update to the original will need to be done.

2. Can we start the home study while in the midst of infertility treatment?
When making the decision to adopt a child, you must first make the decision to stop treatment. Otherwise there is a risk of the adopted child not being accepted for who he is but rather as a replacement for the biological child that never was. This would pose serious threat to a child’s self esteem and therefore it is Ministry mandated that all adoptive applicants first finish with infertility treatment before pursuing adoption.

3. Do we have to have a definite adoption plan prior to beginning the home study?
No. By engaging in the home study experience, you will gather information on various options and confirm your priorities which will allow you to make decisions that are best for you.

4. Can we work with more than one licensee?
Absolutely you can. This creates the potential for reaching out to more birth parents but you will incur more costs this way as each licensee will require a retainer when you submit your profiles.

5. Can you pursue public and private adoption at the same time?
You can certainly submit your profile to a licensee and be registered with the CAS at the same time but you can only adopt one child at a time. In fact, MCSS will only allow you to adopt one child within an eighteen month period, not including a sibling group.

6. Can you pursue local and international adoption at the same time?
Once again, you can submit your profile to a licensee and be registered with an international adoption agency at the same time but you can only adopt one child at a time. Your adoption practitioner can discuss the pros and cons of these options.
7. How long is a home study valid for?
Once a home study for international adoption has been approved by MCSS it is valid for eighteen months from the date of approval. A home study that has been completed for domestic adoption is not reviewed until a match has been made. If less than two years has passed, the medical and police documentation is still valid and an update will have to be submitted reporting on any changes in the applicants situation and the details of the match.

8. Is there a waiting time between each adoption?
MCSS stipulates that placement of children in their adoptive homes should be at least eighteen months apart. The update to the original home study can be done after nine months from the previous placement date.

9. Are there age limits for adoptive applicants?
For domestic adoption, there are not any age limits imposed by legislation, although birth parents may place their own limits in this decision. For international adoption, every country has it’s own regulations for foreign adoption including age of applicants.

10. What is open adoption?
Completely open adoption is when birth parents and adoptive parents are aware of each other’s whereabouts and have ongoing contact without the licensee’s involvement. Semi-open adoption, which is more common, is when adoptive and birth parents meet, perhaps even attend the birth, but then post placement contact is only with pictures and letters through the licensee for an agreed upon period of time. In the latter, identifying information is not shared.

11. Can I work with a licensee in another province?
Yes. The legislation governing adoption in that province will apply to you.

12. How long does it take to adopt a child domestically?
There is not a time frame that can be given as when you are chosen is up to the discretion of the birth parents. In public adoption the time frame is dependent on when the CAS determines that you are a good match for a child. In this sense it can be a more frustrating process than international adoption where a time line for receiving child is specified.

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Originally posted by LauraP:
No. 2 was a surprise to me! Anyone have any idea if it is still valid?

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I just took a course called "The Legal Aspects of Adoption in Ontario". This was discussed in the course. Your understanding is correct. The children need to be placed in your home 18 months apart. They do not need to be 18 months apart in age. There are always exceptions to the rule. The most likely time this rule would be set aside would be if the children were biological siblings.

We discussed updating our homestudy when W turns one so that she can be looking for our next match. If she found the perfect match she said she coulld probably work something out if it was not quite 18mts.

It may be diffrent for us because we are a resourse foster home (fostering with a view to adopt).As the first few months may tecnically be fostering.

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As for the age requirments our SW said that she would like us to take a younger child so W would be the oldest but I think that is just what she thinks would be best for us and not a guidline

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That's a common practice with Ontario CAS agencies.

I found the following paragraph on the Ontario Ministry of Children Services website (Ontario Ministry of Children Services):

People who study child development advise that it is best for children when there is significant spacing between placements and an appropriate age difference between the child being adopted and the other children in the home. Ministry policy, which requires 18 months as an appropriate amount of spacing between placements and age spacing, is based on research findings.

I can understand their logic although we are a bit disapointed as we were excited to try to adopt another child close to our son's age.

Good luck

As seen in these cases, these policies are guidelines and I'm sure they often make exception when it's in the best interest of the child (children).