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Who can adopt in New Brunswick?
- Persons over the age of 19 are permitted
to apply to adopt in New Brunswick.
- Persons who are married can apply to
adopt. The province's amended act will soon allow common
law couples and same-sex couples to jointly adopt children,
giving them the same rights as married couples when adopting
children. Currently, the legislation does not give legal
parent status to both members of a common-law couple.
- The Province of New Brunswick is presently
running an adoption project to try to find placements for
children in the care of the Minister of Social Development
with families within the province of New Brunswick. If a
placement cannot be found within the province for a specific
child, there is an agreement that allows a child's profile
to be sent to other provinces for them to make matches from
their approved homes.
Do I need a home study to adopt in
New Brunswick?
Yes. Individuals will be required to gather
documents (medicals, references, financial statements, criminal
record checks) and have a home study completed. Upon completion
of the home study, a decision is made by the Minister on whether
or not the family is approved to adopt a child.
What
does an open adoption mean in New Brunswick?
An openness agreement varies from one adoption situation to
the next; typically, the amount of contact between birth parents
and the adoptive family tends to be one or more meetings before
the placement with an ongoing exchange of letters and pictures.
Some families agree to having visits a couple of times a year
and others agree to see each other more often.
An openness agreement
in New Brunswick may :
- be made only after consent to
the adoption is given by the birth parent or other guardian
having custody of the child who placed or requested that
the child be placed for adoption, and
- include a process to resolve disputes
arising with respect to the agreement or matters associated
with it.
Can adoption consents be withdrawn?
Yes. A birth parent may revoke his or her
consent by written notice to the Minister within thirty days
after giving consent.
A birth parent cannot
consent to the adoption of his or her child before the child
is four days old. During that period, counseling is provided
to ensure that the birth parents understand the implications
of their decision. If the birth parent revokes their consent
to the adoption, the adoptive applicants have no legal right
to maintain custody of that child.
Birth parents who fully understand the consequences
of signing an adoption consent and who believe they are acting
in the best interests of their child are less likely to revoke
that consent later.
Note: A birth parent may not revoke consent
in the case where the Minister has placed a child for adoption
(most common in Ministerial adoptions where a birth parent
has been deemed unable to care for their child and that child
is now a ward of the government).
Do all birth fathers have to consent
to the adoption?
In New Brunswick, a birth father's consent can be waived if:
- the person has abandoned or deserted
the child,
- they cannot be located after all reasonable
attempts have been made to find the person,
- the person has been incapable of caring
for the child for a period of time of sufficient duration
to be detrimental to the best interests of the child, and
remains incapable at the time consent is waived,
- while liable to maintain the child has
persistently neglected or refused to do so,
- the person has not had an ongoing parental
relationship with the child,
- the person refuses to care for the child
and a delay in securing a home for the child would be detrimental
to the best interests of the child, or
- in the best interests of the child,
the consent should be waived in which case an adoption order
with respect to the child may be made without the consent
of the person whose consent was waived.
Can the agency or adoptive
family help with a birth parent’s expenses?
No. It is illegal to give or receive or even offer to give
or receive payment to procure a child in Canada.
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