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Adoption

Agency Adoption - Families Known to the Birth Parent - Child's Parent

In Nova Scotia, all adoptions are either agency adoptions or private relative adoptions. Agency adoption is when a child is placed by a Children's Aid Society, a Family and Children's Services Agency, a District Office of the Department of Community Services, or an approved Child Placing Agency.

A parent may choose a family from an Agency's approved list of waiting adoptive families. At other times, a parent(s) may become aware of or know a family whom they would like to choose as adoptive parents for their child. These are called "Specified Adoptions" under the law. What follows are the steps for this adoption to take place.

The child's parent must contact the Agency in the area where she resides to advise them of the family she would like to adopt her child.

The Agency will check that the adoptive parents have also contacted the Agency in the area where they live to begin the process to be approved as adoptive parents.

The child's parent will meet with an Agency social worker to provide a social and medical history. This information will help the person doing the adoption home review if this family can meet her child's needs as part of the approval process. It will also be very important for the child in the future.

Social workers are required to explore with the child's parent her plan to place the child for adoption, along with other options, to make sure she is making an informed choice for her child.
Once the family is approved, and the child's parent has made her decision to place her child with the family for adoption, the Agency will arrange for the child's parent to meet with a lawyer to sign the adoption papers.

The Agency will place the child with the approved adoptive family she has chosen.
The adoption process will take approximately six months before the adoption is finalized before the court.

The Child's Placement
The child's parent will need to decide where the child will live until the family she has chosen is approved to adopt and she has consented to the adoption. This may be for a minimum of 16 days. The child may stay with the parent or a family member or friend she chooses or the child may stay with family or friends of the adoptive parents. These persons must first be approved by the agency before they can take the child. The child's parent could also place the child in an Agency approved foster home. Contact between the child, the child's parent and the prospective adoptive parents while in their interim home, should be worked out with each other and the Agency.

The Child's Father
The child’s mother is encouraged to involve the child’s father from the beginning and be involved in the planning for the child. In some situations the child’s father must be involved by law. The Agency social worker is available to meet with both parents or to answer any questions or concerns.

Legal Adoption Process
Once the child is placed with the approved adoptive family by the Agency with the birth parent's consent, the adoption may go to court to be finalized in six months. The Agency will visit the family during the six month period and make final recommendation for the adoption. The prospective adoptive parents will need to hire their own lawyer to take the matter to court to obtain the adoption order.

This summary is intended to give a brief overview of the process. If you have questions, contact your local Children's Services Agency and ask for an adoption worker.