Justice For Families

Ministry of Children and Youth Services

Ontario Appoints Expert Panel On Infertility And Adoption


McGuinty Government Helping Prospective Parents

TORONTO, July 11 /CNW/ -

NEWS

Ontario has appointed an expert panel on fertility treatment and adoption
to help find solutions for people who are trying to start or expand a family.
The panel will recommend ways to help make both fertility treatment and
adoption more accessible and affordable.

<<
The 12-member panel will provide advice to the government on:
- Improving access to infertility treatment and making fertility
monitoring available to women so they know if they are likely to have
problems conceiving a child.
- Improving Ontario's adoption system so that more children can become
part of families more quickly.
>>

Panel members include adoptive parents, people who have had personal
experience with infertility, and representatives from the medical and adoption
communities. The panel is expected to report back to the Minister of Children
and Youth Services with its recommendations within a year.

QUOTES

"As a parent and a grandparent, I know that having a family is one of
life's greatest gifts," said Children and Youth Services
(http://www.gov.on.ca/children) Minister Deb Matthews
(http://www.gov.on.ca/children/english/m ... index.html). "Our
goal is to provide supports for people in this province who want to become
parents."
"I look forward to working with my panel colleagues on this truly
inspiring initiative," said panel chair, David Johnston, President of the
University of Waterloo. "I believe that together, we can make a difference in
the lives of Ontarians wishing to create families."
"Infertility and adoption can be an emotional challenge for many people,"
said David Caplan
(http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/pub ... aplan.html),
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care
(http://www.health.gov.on.ca/index.html). "This panel will ultimately help
prospective parents overcome the obstacles they face during this process."

QUICK FACTS

<<
- Infertility affects 1 in 10 Ontarians
(http://www.healthyontario.com/Condition ... ase_id=248)
and approximately 1 in 6 women over the age of 30.
- There were about 850 adoptions completed through Ontario children's
aid societies in 2006.
>>

LEARN MORE

Get infertility facts and figures (http://www.iaac.ca/en/home).
Find out about adoption in Ontario
(http://www.gov.on.ca/children/english/p ... index.html).

<<ontario>>

The government has appointed 12 members, including a chair, to the new
Expert Panel on Infertility and Adoption. The appointees, who bring a broad
range of expertise from the medical, legal, research and media communities
are:
David Johnston, Chair, is President, University of Waterloo and has
degrees from the United States (Harvard, A.B. 1963), England (Cambridge, LL.B
1965) and Canada (Queen's, LL.B. 1966). He has held many academic positions,
including Dean of the Faculty of Law, University of Western Ontario and
Principal and Vice-Chancellor, McGill University. David has served on many
boards and provincial and federal task forces and committees. He has chaired
several bodies, including the National Round Table on Environment and the
Economy (1988-91), and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research. David and
his wife have five daughters.
Cheryl Appell is a lawyer with the firm Dickson MacGregor Appell LLP in
Toronto and has extensive experience in the area of adoption law. Over the
past 28 years, she has acted as an advisor in adoption proceedings. She is
also licensed to place children for adoption. Cheryl is a member of the
American Academy of Adoption Attorneys and the Ontario Association of
Practitioners in Private Adoption.
Robin Cardozo has been Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario Trillium
Foundation, since 1999. Previously, he held progressively senior positions in
finance and human resources at the United Way of Greater Toronto, culminating
in his appointment as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. In 1999,
Robin won the United Way's highest national honour, the André Mailhot Award.
Robin currently serves on the boards of Bridgepoint Health, Active Healthy
Kids Canada and the Youth Challenge Fund.
Gill Deacon is an award-winning broadcaster. Since 1992, she has hosted
and produced for CBC Television, CTV and Discovery Channel in Canada and the
U.S. She is also the author of Green for Life, a guide to making sustainable
living "the new normal," and author and editor of Green Tips: How to Save
Money and Save the Planet. Gill is environmental columnist for Chatelaine
magazine and has served as a director of World Wildlife Fund Canada since
2002. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their three sons.
Dr. Marjorie Dixon is an assistant professor in the Department of
Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Toronto (U of T) and co-founder
of First Steps Fertility in Toronto. She is a graduate of McGill University's
School of Medicine with postgraduate training from U of T in obstetrics and
gynecology, and in reproductive endocrinology and infertility from the
University of Vermont. Dr. Dixon is now on staff at Sunnybrook Health Sciences
Center and her current practice deals with infertility and family planning.
She has several professional affiliations including the Canadian Fertility and
Andrology Society and the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologist of Canada.
She lives in Toronto with her partner and two children.
William Falk is the Managing Partner of Accenture's Health and Life
Science Practice in Canada and leads a team of more than 100 professionals
serving health care clients across the country. Will has been a strategic
consultant for more than 15 years based in New York and Toronto and has served
many of North America's top academic medical centers, as well as health
ministries and regional authorities across Canada. He and his wife are foster
parents licensed through the Children's Aid Society of Toronto.
Dr. Carol Herbert is Dean of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry
at The University of Western Ontario and a Professor in the Departments of
Family Medicine and Pathology. Dr. Herbert graduated in medicine from the
University of British Columbia. She was founding head of the Division of
Behavioural Medicine in the UBC Department of Family Practice (1984) and a
founder of the UBC Institute of Health Promotion Research. She was President
of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada from 2004 to 2006.
Dr. Art Leader is a Physician and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and
Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and a co-founder of the Ottawa Fertility
Centre. He is also a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons
(Canada), the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and a past president
of the Canadian Fertility and Andrology Society (CFAS). Art has received the
CFAS Award of Excellence. He has also chaired expert working groups for Health
Canada and is currently chair of the Canadian Standards Association
subcommittee on assisted human reproduction. He is the father of an in vitro
fertilization (IVF) daughter.
Danny Roth is founder and President of Brandon Communications, a
Toronto-based public relations firm. He is an officer and executive board
member of the Canadian Jewish Congress, Ontario region. A committed advocate
for Canadians struggling with infertility problems, he is a director on the
board of the Infertility Awareness Association of Canada. Mr. Roth and his
wife are adoptive parents.
Sharon Sell is a Private Adoption Practitioner in the Halton region and a
social worker. She completed her undergraduate degrees in psychology and
social work at York University and her masters in social work at the
University of Toronto. Sharon has a private practice working with adoptive
parents who are adopting internationally, privately in Ontario, or through a
children's aid society. She has more than 23 years' experience in child
welfare, including seven years serving as a supervisor of an adoption
department.
Jan Silverman co-founded the first Canadian infertility support network,
Infertility Facts and Feelings. In 1992, after earning a second masters degree
at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, she established the
Infertility Support and Education Program at Women's College Hospital. In her
work there, she continues to counsel on infertility and related reproductive
issues, lectures and supervises nursing and medical students. She is a past
chair of the Ontario Women's Health Network and created her family by adopting
two children.
Mary Wong is a co-founder of Toronto's ALIVE Holistic Health Clinic,
specializing in women's health, gynecology and fertility. She graduated from
McMaster University in biological sciences and in 1993 received a doctorate in
traditional Chinese medicine from the Canadian College of Acupuncture and
Oriental Medicine in Victoria. She is a member of the Ontario Association of
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine and is the sole Canadian member
of the Fertile Soul Clinical Excellence group.

<<ontario>>

-30-
For further information: Laura Dougan, Minister's Office, (416)
212-3394; Anne Machowski-Smith, Ministry of Children and Youth Services, (416) 325-5156


NGO international children traffickers got excluded from expert panel on children trafficking in Ontario. In order to force their way in they point out to the Ontario Minister of Indoctrination and Commercial Utilisation of Children and Youth that she should not be so blatant about Ontario government policy of baby snatching and selling.
It could be considered as a veiled threat that, if the Minister closes shop and imposes government monopoly on children trafficking in the province they will squeal to the public

http://www.adoption.ca/Inferti.....sponse.pdf

Quote:
The Adoption Council of Canada
Conseil d’adoption du Canada

211 Bronson Avenue, Ottawa, ON K1R 6H5
phone: (613) 235-0344 or 1-888-54-ADOPT
fax: (819) 682-4055


July 21, 2008
Hon. Deborah Matthews
Minister of Children and Youth Services.
14th Flr, 56 Wellesley St W
Toronto ON M5S 2S3


Dear Minister Matthews:

The Adoption Council of Canada (ACC) is pleased that the Ministry of Children and Youth
Services has appointed an expert panel to study adoption and infertility. These are issues that require further study and thought. The ACC is the umbrella organization for adoption in Canada.We respectfully request that we make a presentation to the panel so that we may share our concerns and knowledge with panel members.

Our membership is comprised of adoptive parents, adults hoping to adopt, professionals working in adoption, adopted adults, and birth parents. With our broad membership and national focus, we have a clear understanding of the issues facing adults in every province who are hoping to build a family through adoption and of the challenges inherent in a life touched by adoption

We are concerned that the committee’s stated purpose is to “to help find solutions for people who are trying to start or expand a family.” This seems to suggest that the interests of the child fall into second place behind those of adults struggling with infertility. Adoption is, and always has been, a means of finding a home for a child in need. It has not been considered a service of family-building for individuals unable to conceive. While many of our members know firsthand the pain and heartbreak associated with infertility, we are troubled by the suggestion that children must be made available for adoption in order to ease this pain. Children’s rights and needs must remain central to any discussion of adoption.

We are disappointed that your Ministry chose not to appoint anyone to the panel with lived experience with adoption or donor conception. In keeping with our belief that adults must always keep the rights and needs of children central to any discussion, we suggest that the committee take seriously the views of adopted and donor conceived adults who tell us that access to truthful information about their origins, including the names of all genetic parents, is integral to their conception of self. We understand that this panel is dealing with children but we remind you that children grow into adults who require a basic understanding of their origins in order to make sense of their place in the world. We urge you to encourage participation by and listen carefully to the words spoken by adopted and donor conceived adults. Surely, their voices are as
important as those belonging to adults wishing to build a family through adoption or donor conception.

The ACC is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving and representing individuals involved with adoption. We do not profit from adoption and receive no funding from those who do. We do, however, speak for adoptive families in Ontario and would welcome the opportunity to speak with the panel further about the issues we have raised. We may be contacted at our office in Ottawa at 613-235-0344 or info@adoption.ca .
Yours Sincerely,
Sandra Scarth
President

info@adoption.ca info@canadaswaitingkids.ca
www.adoption.ca www.canadaswaitingkids.ca
Adoption Council of Canada
http://www.bloggingtories.ca/forums/topic6246.html

I am outraged as a parent to find these so called self appointed professionals taking huge risks with adopted children/adults.

This is not rocket science a link or a name to a genetic key must be kept on file for a child in the future.


Who do these people think they are cutting this vital part of information out. Not everyone can grow their own stem cells .
The next step is the biological parent - the siblings .........

Child trafficking is the same this side of the pond or the other .

Same old crap just another location .

I am trying to bench mark a case in the UK for my son to be able to find me quickly if he should fall out of remission from leuakaemia.

The contact has broken down for all the same reasons it has failed with many families.
The SS and my ex-partner made sure it did. This has nothing to do with a face - face request for contact , just a request to leave a genetic key for a child in the future should they need it when they fall critically ill.

There is no alteria motive or should be conditions attached for real abusers to get access to children who have been abused ,this is unconditional and it is vital to leave something to safe guard children who have lost half of their DNA whilst being lost in care or adopted.

Someone should do something as the Government are doing nothing in the interest of these voiceless children who go unrepresented as people in society .
The are mere a mere commercial transaction for Local Authorities for cash.

Why should they bother to insure the Children's best interest when they can take thousands of children from families without any justification.


Why should this stop ?
Why no reason at all ,

This is money for nothing and your kids for free.

Can't believe what I'm reading here. Stuff what's best for a child, adoptees in waiting come first.

[quote]NGO international children traffickers got excluded from expert panel on children trafficking in Ontario. In order to force their way in they point out to the Ontario Minister of Indoctrination and Commercial Utilisation of Children and Youth that she should not be so blatant about Ontario government policy of baby snatching and selling.
It could be considered as a veiled threat that, if the Minister closes shop and imposes government monopoly on children trafficking in the province they will squeal to the public

[quote]

Thank god my baby making days are over. I know this is Canada, but please tell me it's not that bad over here.

Sueb,

I can only say that the only similarities are that the genetic parents are not ever going to be able to contact the children after the adoption.
I know that there are circumstances were adoption is open and 1 once a year contact or 4 times a year for siblings.

This is very much a chain of supply and demand due to infertility also a trend of same sex placements taking place.

I suppose the ideal scenario for the adoption agencies and SS is to get the babies as soon after birth as possible, preferably from dysfunctional families.

Kill two birds with one stone so to speak. They assume because a family is dysfunctional they do not love or care about their children, and because they may be less intelligent, less likely to challenge them.

I see the logic, but it STINKS.

That being said my best friends niece has had three children removed at birth - mind you, she's not bothered, she only wanted the maternity grant anyway, and quite honestly the kids are better off out of there.

I do understand that some children awho re not better off with their parents, - but they must be placed within the extended family when possible and this is being ignored by LA who want the children for adoption. (by hook or in most cases by CROOK)