St Vincent Adoptions

(Non-Hague)

St Vincent and the Grenadines is a small cluster of islands in the south Caribbean. It is comprised of 150,000 people, most of whom have minimal education and opportunities for employment. St Vincent has a wonderful foster care program, and no orphanages. Most children are from unwed mothers, or families who are unable to care for their children due to poverty or other social and medical issues.

Documents need to be notarized and legalized prior to submitting to the St. Vincent Adoption Board.

Families who are home with their Vincentian children are available for new families to contact in most Canadian provinces. CAFAC agency has Canada-wide semiannual events for families.

Private foster care is provided by the St Vincent Adoption Board and St Vincent Social Services; it has similar standards and ethics to Canadian foster care. Families are able to be in contact with the foster mother of their child during the wait for the adoption process to be completed. Foster care costs are $500 US per month- of which 10 months is built into CAFAC country fees. If the adoption process is longer than 10 months, then the family is responsible for paying additional monthly fees.

Parent requirements:  Applications are welcomed from single women and married couples, but there is a preference for married couples.  They should be aged 25 years and older. Siblings are rare.

1. Applicants who are under 25 up to 43 years of age may be proposed a child(ren) as young as possible (infant) or 0-36 months at the time of referral.
2. Applicants who are over 44 to 50 years of age, even if only one is over 44, may be proposed a child(ren) 3 to 10  years of age at the time of referral.
3. Applicants who are 51 to 55 years of age, even if only one is over 51, may be proposed a child(ren) 5 years of age or older at the time of referral.
4. Applicants over 55 will not be accepted.

Number of children in family should not exceed 5 children at time of referral.

Children: All children are racially Black, and range in ages from a few weeks old to 10 years old. All are tested for HIV, Hep B, TB and VD. Child proposals are unpredictable in timing, usually come to the family within 1-24 months after the file is in the country. Children are referred as they come into care of the St Vincent Social Services system. Siblings are rare. St Vincent requires all children to have a child study completed by a SW in the country, and relinquishment papers of any birth family members. This can take time to accomplish. Laboratory findings and photos are also sent with the proposal.

Waiting Time: After proposal the time required to finalize the adoption can vary from 6-10 months depending on the case. The adoption is finalized in St. Vincent.

Travel: The agency can assist with travel preparation and accommodations if necessary. Accommodations can range from $250 - $400 US per week in fully-equipped apartment or beach houses. Travel to the country by the family is required, and is 10-14 days in length.

Fees: Couples report that the complete adoption process costs ranges from $20,000 - $30,000 CAD depending on exchange rate, length of foster care, seasonal price of plane tickets, stay in country and the provincial jurisdiction they are from in Canada.  Foster care is 500.00 US per month from the time the child comes into care in St. Vincent until a visa is issued for them to come to Canada.

Immigration: The Canadian High Commission is located in Port of Spain, Trinidad

Working with the St Vincent Adoption Board our lawyer, Agnes Cato facilitates the adoption process for families. We have worked with her for close to 10 years.

For more information about our St Vincent Program, please contact Karen Dowsett, Adoption Services Manager at 204-867-5556 or inquire to karen@cafac.ca

Listed wait times for a referral is an estimate based on current activity in the country, they can fluctuate and will be updated on a regular basis.

We are not accepting new applications at the present time until movement of files already in process has taken place, but feel free to be in touch with us by phone if you are interested in this program.