Agency’s collapse crushes adoption dream

Couples left in lurch by bankruptcy

BY KRISTY NEASE, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJULY 17, 2009 12:01 AM

OTTAWA-Three years ago, Christine Côté of Orléans was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and was told that having children was an impossibility.

Côté and her husband Jean-François, both 38, have had family experience with adoption, so that made their decision easy. They wanted a family, no matter the cost.

Bankrupt adoption agency owed money to 400 families

Jennifer MacMillan

Toronto — From Friday's Globe and Mail

Last updated on Friday, Jul. 17, 2009 02:28AM EDT

Susan Hayhow's stonework century home in Cambridge, Ont., is the envy of her neighbours. With an indoor hot tub, manicured backyard and top-of-the-line appliances, it's perfectly appointed – much like Ms. Hayhow, who appears neatly coiffed and well-dressed in the dozens of photos posted to the websites of her adoption agency and charity. They show Ms. Hayhow during her frequent trips, handing out toys to children in Ecuador and posing in the lobby of the luxurious Sheraton hotel in Ethiopia's capital.

Agency’s collapse crushes adoption dream

Couples left in lurch by bankruptcy

BY KRISTY NEASE, THE OTTAWA CITIZENJULY 17, 2009 12:01 AM

OTTAWA-Three years ago, Christine Côté of Orléans was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome and was told that having children was an impossibility.

Côté and her husband Jean-François, both 38, have had family experience with adoption, so that made their decision easy. They wanted a family, no matter the cost.

Alberta adoption hopefuls in limbo after Ont. firm falters

Province to aid broke agency's applicants

By Robin Summerfield, Calgary HeraldJuly 16, 2009 7:22 AMBe the first to post a comment

Delores and Shawn Bertin hold some of the paperwork they received from the adoption agency imagine adoption, which went bankrupt monday, leaving about 400 prospective families uncertain about their applications to adopt.

Photograph by: Ted Rhodes, Calgary Herald, Calgary Herald

Local couples left with nothing but grief

ADOPTION: Bankrupt

Posted By RACHEL PUNCH, THE SUDBURY STAR

Posted 1 hour ago

Natalie and Chris Fournier turned to international adoption after trying for five years to have a child.

Anxious adoptive parents wait for agency's bankruptcy to be sorted

Last Updated: Wednesday, July 15, 2009 | 7:43 PM MT Comments38Recommend19

CBC News

Three-month-old Wondimu was approved to be adopted by a Calgary couple before an adoption agency went bankrupt. (Courtesy of Thurmeier family)

Children approved to be adopted by Canadian parents using a now bankrupt adoption agency are in good care, according to the bankruptcy trustee for Imagine Adoption, which specialized in adoptions from Africa.

Mother's fight to get newly adopted child

Updated Wed. Jul. 15 2009 8:21 PM ET

A Kitchener woman is taking matters into her own hands after hearing Imagine Adoption has filed for bankruptcy.

Jennifer Ziegler says she will fly to Ethiopia to make sure her adopted daughter is safe while, she waits for the child's Canadian visa to go through.

Officials are advising against this. Citizenship and Immigration Canada says they can't finalize the adoption cases until the paperwork is in order.

Agency folds, puts couple's adoption plans on hold

Bankruptcy trustees take over company conducting arrangements for two children

By Sarah Mclellan, Edmonton Journal, with files from the Calgary HeraldJuly 16, 2009

Tammy Campbell and her family have been planning for the arrival of two adopted children from Ethiopia for months.

She and her husband, Scott, have been collecting Ethiopian art, tasting Ethiopian food and gathering children's books about African folklore.

Ethiopian kids in limbo as adoption agency folds

Last Updated: Thursday, July 16, 2009 | 6:18 AM PT Comments0Recommend0

CBC News

A woman from B.C.'s southern Interior who is in Ethiopia to adopt two children is calling on the Canadian government to help dozens of children stranded by the bankruptcy of an adoption agency.

The Ontario-based agency Kids Link, which operates Imagine Adoption in Ethiopia, went bankrupt Monday, jeopardizing hundreds of potential adoptions for new parents.

Debt mounting for Imagine Adoption

570 News/The Record Cambridge | Thursday, July 16th, 2009 5:58 am

Cambridge - There's new information this morning about the Imagine Adoption agency in Cambridge that folded earlier this week.

The company is facing huge debt. A preliminary bankrupcty report finds the company owes $80,000 for two luxury vehicles it leased. The vehicles include a Lexus and Nissan Pathfinder. The company was also renting three properties in Cambridge with payment obligations of $13,000 a month.

Bankruptcy trustee Susan Taves tells today's Record that while early accounting shows the agency has a $363,000 shortfall, that number could rise because of the $800,000 in fees collected from families who applied to adopt.