Is ARCS accepting adoptive couples on their waiting list?
We are always looking for couples who feel it is important that adoptive children have the opportunity to form and maintain a relationship with members of their birth family.

How many couples do you usually have on your waiting list?
ARCS works with no more than 40 couples at a time. It is important to have a close personal relationship with our clients and we feel that we can have such relationships if we limit the number of couples on our waiting list.

How would we get on ARCS's waiting list?
The intake process is a two-step process. The first step is to attend one of ARCS's Open Adoption workshops. These workshops are held four times a year on a Saturday in Kingston. A workshop is usually held in January, April, July, and October. To find the dates and details of our upcoming scheduled workshops, please see information in the Workshops section.

The second step is to meet with the Director, Jennie Painter, for a one-on-one session. During this two-and-a-half hour session, Jennie will review your birthparent letter and profile, will get to know you better, and will find out your ideas about the kind of relationship you would like to have with the birthparents, and the characteristics you hope your child will possess. It is also a time to ask any questions or to discuss any issues regarding adoption. It is required that you provide your completed homestudy and supporting documents (ie. Medical, police and RCMP checks) at this intake session.

Do you only do open adoptions?
ARCS believes that good relationships are based on honesty, openness, and trust. However, once in a while, we work with a birthmother, who for various reasons, finds that she would prefer a more closed adoption. In these instances, we will honour the birthparent's wishes. However, we only accept adoptive parents who welcome the opportunity to have an on-going relationship with the birthparents. This way, it gives the birthparents an opportunity to form a relationship with the adoptive parents at a later date.

How do the birthparents find you?
Expectant parents are often referred to us by people who have worked with us in the past. This may include doctors, nurses, social workers, public health nurses, school counsellors, or people who have either adopted or placed a child through ARCS.

How long do I have to wait before a baby is placed with me?
At ARCS, this period of time varies. Expectant parents are given the opportunity to review the birthparent letters of all couples/individuals on our waiting list. After reviewing these two page letters, the birthparents select a few couples that they are most interested in considering as parents for their child. They are then given more information about these couples. The birthparents then select the couple that they feel would be the best parents for their child. As a result, some of our couples are chosen within a very short period of time while others wait a longer period of time.

What do you think birthparents are looking for in adoptive parents?
Birthparents are as different in their beliefs, values, and interests as the adoptive parents that enter our service. Consequently, each birthparent will be looking for different things in adoptive parents. However, most of the expectant parents want to have adoptive parents who realistically and honestly portray themselves in their profiles and birthparent letters. They are hoping to find people that will love and cherish their child. In addition, expectant parents are looking for people that they can trust, respect, and feel comfortable with. They are also hoping that the adoptive parents will like and feel comfortable with them. They often choose couples that have qualities that are similar to them or that they admire and respect.

How many adoptions do you do per year?
The number of adoptions that ARCS does per year varies. However, on the average, ARCS is involved in 10 to 15 adoptions per year.

How many of these adoptions plans end with the birthparents deciding to parent the child?
Each year, about 10% of the expectant parents decide to parent their child. This decision to parent the child usually occurs at the time of the birth and therefore the child is never placed with the adoptive couple. The birthparents find that after being with their child, they are not able to separate themselves from him or her and decide to parent. However, in the fifteen years that ARCS has been facilitating adoptions, only two children that had been actually placed in the home of the adoptive parents were later removed in order to be reunited with their birthparents.

Will I be given any information about the birthparents?
After you have reviewed the birthparents' social histories, a match meeting will be arranged. This is a meeting where you will meet the birthparents and have the opportunity to get to know one another.

Will I have a chance to meet the birthparents again?
Following the match meeting, you are encouraged to have further contact with the birthparents. This contact usually does not involve the presence of a social worker. This gives you the opportunity to get to know each other in a less therapeutic manner. The object of open adoption is for you to form a relationship with one another.

When do we plan for the adoption?
After the match meeting, a vision meeting will be arranged. This is an opportunity for the birthparents, the adoptive parents, and the open adoption facilitator, which is usually the licensee or birthparent counselor, to meet together to determine the details of the adoption plan.

What do we discuss at a vision meeting?
A vision meeting is arranged to help clarify your vision of what you would like for the child and what kind of a relationship you would like to have with one another. The naming of the baby will be discussed, who will be present at the hospital when the baby is born, how the baby will be transferred from the birth family to the adoptive family, and who will be present at this giving and receiving ceremony. If the child is male, decisions regarding circumcision will be discussed. In addition, each other's hopes regarding the relationship between the adoptive and birth family is reviewed.

Who will name the baby?
A name is a special gift given to the baby. In open adoption, the naming of the child is often a blending of the name given to the child by the birthparents and the name given to the child by the adoptive parents. Sometimes, the adoptive parents decide to retain the name given to the child by the birthparents. Other times, and this is a more frequent situation, the adoptive parents retain the name given to the child by the birthparents as a middle name and then the adoptive parents give the child his or her first name. At other times, the birth and adoptive parents join together and decide jointly a name for the child.

When will the baby be placed with the adoptive parents?
If the birthparents are certain that they want to proceed with the adoption after the baby is born, the baby is usually placed directly with the adoptive parents upon his or her discharge from the hospital. If however the birthparents are wavering in their decision, the baby either will be placed in a foster home for a period of time, or the child will live with the birthparents or a friend or family member of the birth family until a decision is reached.

Do the birthparents have a period of time to change their mind about placing their baby for adoption?
Yes. The birthparents are required to sign a legal document called "Consent to Adoption" when the baby is at least 8 days old. From the time that they sign this consent, the birthparents have 21 days to change their mind. Consequently, the birthparents have approximately one month to review this adoption decision before their parental rights end.

What are the costs involved in a private adoption?
Adoptive parents are responsible for assuming the costs of an adoption. When a couple enters into an adoption plan, they given a written description of the adoption services and costs involved.

The average cost of our adoptions usually range between $10,000.00 to $14,000.00. This would include the birthparent counselling, licensee fee, supervision of placement for the adoptive parents, disbursements, and the normal legal fees such as the legal costs for the birthparents to sign their consents. If there were additional legal fees required for an adoption (such as dispensing with a consent), these would be above and beyond the $10,000.00 to $14,000.00 range.

Are ARCS's adoptions primarily in the Kingston area?
No. ARCS is licensed to place children in the province of Ontario and therefore many of our birthparents and adoptive parents are from various parts of the province.

Can adoptive couples from Quebec register with ARCS?
Yes. ARCS has always welcomed adoptive couples from the province of Quebec and has placed children for adoption with Quebec couples in the past.

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