My name is Elspeth Ross. I am an adoptive parent and educator in adoption permanency and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder from Rockland, Ontario. My husband is here with me today. I speak to you for our family and many others about my family and work, what's wrong with adoption, the federal government's support for adoption, and citizenship and adoption: the two routes and deportation.
My husband and I adopted our children, who are Cree and Saulteaux, from Saskatchewan, the first one in 1981, when we lived in Aylmer, Quebec, the others in Ontario. They came at the ages of 19 months, three and a half years, and eleven years, and are now 31, 28, and 34. For the past five years we have been parenting our daughter's son, now age 12, in a kinship-care arrangement. All came with special needs. Our boys were affected by alcohol before birth. Our grandson suffers from trauma and anxiety, and keeps getting suspended from school. The boys are doing well. Both graduated from high school and one from college; both work seasonally and live together in our lower house. They are also connected to their birth families. I still take them to the doctor and help with food shopping, even though they are in their thirties.
We were told in 1981, when our first son came, that he was fetal-alcohol-affected, and we were advised to get whatever help we could. This paid off. Most families are not so well informed. Our children and grandson were moved around within, and in and out of, their birth families and within foster care. We are still struggling with the impact, which shows itself in attachment, behaviour, and school problems. We got support from support groups—