EDITOR:
In response to Sean Morrison’s comments in the article “Adoption Accountability” in The Guardian on Saturday, I wonder if he is aware of the huge amount of research on ‘attachment’ and that removing children from all they have known can, and often does, cause permanent damage to these children? This is why in B.C., “Each year, approximately 42 per cent of all adoptions in British Columbia are foster parents adopting the children in their care. Being adopted by their foster parents means stability and less disruption in the child's life and relationships,” according to the Adoptive Families Association of B.C. As to Mr. Morrison’s assertion that foster parents are not discouraged from adopting the children in their care, I think he needs to talk to foster parents and former foster parents for a true picture of this on P.E.I. The Small’s are one of a number of foster families on P.E.I. who have applied to adopt a long-term foster child and have been turned down for adoption and turfed from fostering. Let’s not hide behind privacy. Let’s do everything we can to help the most vulnerable of Island children thrive. Permanent wards who have lost their first family shouldn’t be ripped away from their second one!
Anne Van Donkersgoed
Three Rivers
