Family Forum / Parenting / Adoption / July 2009

I'm sorry. But seriously.

http://www.bclocalnews.com/lifestyles/51257862.html

"It's like losing your life savings and having a stillbirth in the
same second'
The Mansell family, parents Dan and Andrea, four-year-old twins
Fredrick and Roland, and 10-month-old Marcus are heartbroken after
finding out the adoption agency that they have spent the last 20
months working with to adopt two girls has gone bankrupt.
JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
By Katie Robinson - Chilliwack Progress
Published: July 20, 2009

A Chilliwack family's dreams of adopting two girls from Ethiopia were
shattered last week after an Ontario-based, international adoption
agency filed for bankruptcy.

Now they're looking for help.

Dan and Andrea Mansell have invested nearly two years and $20,000 in
trying to adopt two young girls to add to their family of three boys –
two of whom were adopted from Liberia a year and a half ago. But when
they discovered, on an Internet discussion forum, that the adoption
agency they were using – Imagine Adoption, also known as Kids Link
International Adoption Agency – had filed for bankruptcy last Monday,
tears stung their eyes.

"It's like losing your life savings and having a stillbirth in the
same second," said Dan, a self-employed graphic artist.

The Mansells have been working on the adoption for over 20 months;
they started the research even before their four-year-old boys, Roland
and Fredrick, had arrived. And even though a match hadn't yet been
made, "these girls are a big part of our family," said Andrea. "They
are very real to us."

Roland and Fredrick talked about their sisters daily. They pointed to
where their sisters would sit at the dinner table; drew pictures for
them; put pennies in a piggy bank for them; and even set aside their
old bikes for them.

But when the boys were told that it may have all been for naught, they
cried for hours.

"It's like a death in the family," said Andrea. "The money is one
thing, but it's the years of waiting and getting attached ... it broke
our hearts. All we did was cry."

In Canada, there are only two private adoption agencies prospective
parents can go through for international adoptions: Imagine and
Canadian Advocate for the Adoption of Children.

After doing extensive research on both agencies, the Mansells chose
Imagine because of its shorter wait list. They never once imagined it
would be the wrong choice.

They weren't the only ones.

Between 450 and 500 families have been affected by the bankruptcy
notice – approximately 78 from B.C. alone.

BDO Dunwoody, the bankruptcy trustee, is working on completing the
adoptions for approximately 40 families who had already been matched
with children in Ethiopia. But for the families who hadn't yet been
matched, like the Mansells, they may never see their children or their
money.

"Now what do we do? Even if we wanted to switch agencies, where are we
going to get another $15,000 from?" asked Andrea. "We don't have the
money to start over again."

"It's too much," said Dan. "It's just too much."

The Mansells have contacted Chilliwack MLA Barry Penner and Chilliwack
MP Chuck Strahl for support.

Although Imagine is an Ontario-based agency, licensed by the Ontario
provincial government, the Mansells hope the local politicians can put
pressure on the Ontario government to help get their adoptions
processed.

The B.C. Ministry of Children and Families is working to provide
affected families with updated information, and has been in contact
with the Ontario government, said Penner.

"I know this is emotionally draining and stressful for families who
have been waiting a long time in anticipation of receiving a wonderful
child to complement their lives, not to mention the financial costs
these families have incurred," said Penner.

"We are trying to get whatever information we can to help these people
out, but it is a difficult situation."

Strahl was not available for comment by The Progress deadline.