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INFERTILITY   ADOPTION   POST-ADOPTION   FAMILY TREE   Adoption Resource Central    Heart of Adoption Articles to inspire   International adoption guide   You can order Family Helper publications   Robin's GLOSSARY of adoption terms		Toronto Star: Toronto CAS to run Chinese adoptions BY ROBIN HILBORN, Family Helper editor
		(Jan. 12, 2002) The Jan. 12, 2002 Toronto Star ran an intriguing story -- the Children's Aid Society of Toronto, which finds homes for local children, is also proposing to arrange adoptions from China. Executive Director Bruce Rivers said that the public agency would run its foreign adoptions on a non-profit basis -- the service isn't meant as a moneymaker. No taxpayers' dollars would be used to run the adoption centre's international operation, he said, adding that people adopting from abroad would be charged a fee "typical of fees charged elsewhere." Ten CAS staff now handle local adoptions and more staff will be hired to handle orphans from China, Rivers said. Nancy Dale, director of adoption services, said would-be parents adopting from China might pay $25,000 to $30,000, including travel and expenses. China was chosen "as a starting point" because adoptions there are reliable and well-regulated, she said. Toronto CAS is applying to the Ontario Ministry of Community, Family and Children's Services for a licence for China initially, and other countries later. A spokesperson for the ministry said the application will be treated the same as that of any private agency seeking to run adoptions abroad, even though the CAS receives public funding. Critics were concerned that the CAS was straying from its mandate to serve local children. Ontarians wanting to adopt face a number of possibilities. The province's 52 children's aid societies run local adoptions, at little or no cost to parents; several private agencies handle domestic adoptions; and Ontario has 20 private agencies licensed to handle international adoptions. Toronto Star, Jan. 12, 2002, p. A2 ________________________________________ You may reproduce this item with the credit: "Source: Family Helper (www.familyhelper.net)"