Province says it made the move to protect children from potential harm
The Quebec government has suspended most new international adoption applications, echoing moves by other jurisdictions that are rethinking the once-common practice because of human rights and trafficking concerns.
Quebec's decision is part of a global "culture change" in recent years as countries have become aware of serious shortcomings in the way many adoptions are carried out, Anne-Marie Piché, a professor in the social work department at the Université du Québec à Montréal who studies adoption, said in an interview Monday.
Despite international agreements that theoretically impose strict rules, "there are countries that have gaps in their adoption procedures," she said. In some cases, she added, "the children don't have their truthful information collected, for example on their parents, on the real reasons for placement, on their circumstances of birth."
As well, she said, mothers are sometimes coerced into signing a document to give up their child, children are falsely reported as abandoned or adoptions are quickly approved for financial gain.
