Hello. My name is Shelley Rottenberg. It's a pleasure to be attending this meeting as a witness today.
I'm the secretary for the Child and Youth Permanency Council of Canada, the co-president of China's Children International, and the associate director for engagement and social media for Asian Adoptees of Canada. I will be speaking based on my lived experience as a transracial international adoptee. I was born in China during the one-child policy and adopted to Canada by a single mother when I was a baby.
I support the government providing 15 additional weeks of attachment leave for employment insurance benefits for adoptive parents. If this had been available to my mom when she adopted me, it would have greatly benefited our family. At the time, my mom was not able to take any leave of absence, except for the time it took to travel to China. We do not have any extended family who live close to us, so she had to rely on friends and babysitters to look after me while she worked.
Adoptive parents deserve equal access to parental leave benefits. It is especially important for parents who adopt a baby or child from a different country, culture or racial background because time is not only needed for the parent and child to bond. The adoptee also needs adequate time to adjust to other new unique changes in environment, language, customs, etc.
Growing up, it was always clear to me what I had gained through adoption. I am very grateful for my mom and sister and for all the opportunities I've had throughout my life, although people often forget about the circumstances that made adoption necessary. My adoption paperwork says that I was abandoned at the front door of a garment factory and then brought to a police station and then the orphanage. I was then placed in a foster home in China until my mom became my legal guardian and brought me home to Canada.
I was labelled with failure to thrive because I was very sick when my mom adopted me. I had bronchitis and couldn't keep food down at first. Now that I'm older, when I reflect on my first couple of years of life, I am both in awe and saddened by all of the hardships that I went through as an infant. Research shows how important the earliest years of life are in terms of a child's development. Therefore, given all of the major life changes that can come with adoption, and considering the potential losses of birth family, culture and country, it is crucial that parents have plenty of time to support their adopted baby or child in the beginning stages of this journey.
Even if the adopted baby or child appears well adjusted, additional time to form strong and secure attachments with adoptive parents will only benefit the adoptee and better set them up for success.
That concludes my statement. Thank you so much, everyone, for your time, and at any point I'm happy to answer questions.
Thank you.