Parents ready to fight
ADOPTION AGENCY COLLAPSE: Affected families meet in London, join forces to battle to complete international adoptions
Parents ready to fight
Patrick Maloney
The London Free Press
July 20, 2009
London-area families devastated by the collapse of an international adoption agency have joined forces to fight for the children they dream of bringing here.
Glen Pearson
More than 60 people, mostly young couples, met in London yesterday to lean on each other and discuss the stunning bankruptcy of Kids Link International, that operates the agency, Imagine Adoption, that shut its doors one week ago today.
"We are family," Londoner Rob Eagleson said of anyone who's dealt with the Cambridge-based agency that brokered adoptions from Ethiopia and other countries. "We're a part of a family from the time we (get started)."
The bankruptcy filing, and subsequent departure of executive director Susan Hayhow to Ethiopia, has sent 400 families scrambling for answers.
Their adoptions have screeched to a halt and a lack of information was the catalyst for the meeting that drew people from as far as Hamilton.
It was one of three meetings held yesterday across Ontario -- the others were in Toronto and Ottawa -- as affected families shake off the initial shock and start seeking ways to complete the adoptions. The mood, most agreed, was positive.
"We're not putting blame on anybody," said Kevin Armstrong-Douglas of London. "We just want to find out what happened to our files."
Eagleson is more fortunate than most because he and his wife completed their adoption last summer.
But the bankruptcy was no less heartbreaking, he said. "(I feel) compassion and care for the children (awaiting adoption) and the people here."
The government-regulated agency charged about $20,000 per adoption, though it's clear recouping the money isn't the priority.
Shannon Warren of Ingersoll described her two-year wait like a pregnancy: she hasn't actually seen her child, but already feels an unbreakable bond.
Hamilton's Karyn Black says after investing 30 months in the adoption process, she and her husband are taking the bankruptcy calmly.
"The agency didn't scam us out of anything, we just need to get our files completed," Black, 33, said. "The children are there. It's not like they didn't exist at all."
Yesterday's co-ordinated meetings will no doubt put more pressure on all levels of government to ensure the adoptions are completed.
Deb Matthews, the London MPP and minister of child and youth services, has said the province will work to get the children already matched with families to Canada. But that's just a fraction of the affected families, most of which are waiting to be matched.
A ministry representative told reporters after the Toronto meeting that Ontario officials were working with federal Immigration officials to fast-track visas for 22 completed adoptions in Ethiopia.
BDO Dunwoody has appointed a bankruptcy trustee to look into the agency's financial records and has reportedly sent a person to the Ethiopia transition house where the matched children live.
That's also where Hayhow is, a Calgary newspaper said. Contacted by e-mail, Hayhow told a reporter her "priority right now is focusing on the needs of the children here in Ethiopia."
A person familiar with the case says alarms first went off when agency board members questioned several expenses, such as high-end vehicle leases.
Other unexpected creditors include a pet store and a Cambridge pool company, financial documents show.
Though many at yesterday's meeting downplayed the importance of the expenses, others admitted they are eager to learn details of the financial collapse.
They will get that chance on July 30, when the trustee handling the bankruptcy is to meet creditors. BDO Dunwoody documents show "400 families" listed as unsecured creditors with claims totalling $800,000.
Total liabilities for the organization were listed at $1.07 million and assets at $723,000, a "deficiency" of $363,000.
Patrick Maloney is a Free Press reporter.
E-MAIL: Patrick Maloney
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