17 young children from Montreal waiting to be adopted

In Montreal alone, 17 Quebec children aged 1 month to 5 years are waiting for people ready to adopt them. One of them has been waiting for three years, another for two years.

This is what the DPJ of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud de Montréal confirmed to The Press.

Ideally, “no child should be waiting,” bluntly recognizes Josée Lemieux, head of the adoption department.

How many children across Quebec are also in this situation? Questioned on this subject, the Ministry of Health and Social Services – to which the DPJ reports – responded in writing that “after verification”, it does not “possess this data, since it relates to the internal management of each establishment “.

As for the 17 children from Montreal, they are currently in foster families on a temporary basis, “but as long as a child is not in his environment and he has to be moved, we create a place for him. trauma,” observes M^me The best.

In fact, she adds, “38 families are waiting to be evaluated”, but none of them “is currently because none is interested in the profile of our 17 children” .

M^me Lemieux mentions problems with fetal alcoholism, schizophrenic parents, children who have suffered multiple fractures. The one who has been waiting for three years has a severe autism disorder.

These children are intended to be adopted, following the “mixed bank” process where children from Quebec are sent whose biological parents, in all likelihood, will never be able to fulfill their role. (For a period of time, prior to adoption, contact between the biological parents and the child is generally maintained and encouraged.)

Currently, adult applicants want “pink babies,” as Ms.^me The best. Babies without illness or risk of developing it or without psychological stigma despite their arrival into the world in extremely difficult conditions.

“There are some very beautiful stories,” insists M^me Lemieux, noting that certain children for whom the DPJ had fears ultimately developed well.

But the fact remains that these children offered for adoption “come from youth protection”, with what that implies.

It is therefore great, very solid souls who are sought after. Applicants willing to adopt knowing that the children are likely to need more care than others, “that they will have more medical appointments and that it is possible that it will be more difficult at first school” for them, explains M^me The best.

Drop in interest

She observed that for some time now, information sessions have become much less popular. In recent months, some have had to be canceled due to a lack of sufficient participants, and those that did take place attracted fewer adults than before.

As this occurs while assisted procreation is now partly reimbursed, M^me Lemieux hypothesizes that this could contribute to a decline in interest in mixed banking.

Geneviève Pagé, professor of social work and scientific director specializing in adoption and youth protection issues at the University of Quebec in Outaouais, notes that “historically, we saw rather the opposite, that is, many parents ready up for adoption and few children waiting.”

“It seems that the profile of children tends to change,” she argues.

With the very specific needs of these children, the DPJ is perhaps “particularly selective,” she says.

The current situation is therefore likely to create instability which “may in particular cause attachment difficulties and lead to behavioral reactions […]explains M^me Page. This is why the mixed bank was set up, to avoid moving a child to another family when he or she becomes eligible for adoption. »

Service shortages, an issue

Catherine Voyer-Léger, who adopted a girl alone eight years ago through the mixed bank, insists for her part on the importance, for those who are starting out, to be not only very solid, but also perfectly realistic. “People too often still live in the myth that love cures everything,” a speech, she laments, that she also says she has heard in doctor’s offices.

Furthermore, these years, “the question of lack of services is central,” says M.^me Voyer-Léger.

This affected her so much that she moved from Outaouais, a region very affected by shortages, to Montreal, precisely to have better access to services.

“But the fact remains that there are very few specialists,” she says, able to help parents with these children with very specific challenges.

Furthermore, two people mentioned The Press the fact that adoptions that should have had an excellent chance of moving forward were blocked in front of a judge.

One of the people believes that the inexperience of DPJ employees – who would have been insufficiently prepared – may be to blame; another source instead spoke of a problematic judge.

However, these situations remain exceptional. In total, across Quebec, 216 adoptions of Quebec children were completed last year.

People who think they have the desired profile to become parents of one of the 17 children can contact 514 896-3150 or send an email to [email protected]