Quebec Life Coalition

LifeCanada has just launched an adoption promtion website called AdoptioninCanada.ca. This looks to be a great resource for mothers looking to provide a better life for their unborn children.

Press Release:

National campaign will raise awareness of infant adoption choices for women with unplanned pregnancies.

Ottawa, Ontario—November is National Adoption Awareness Month in Canada, and LifeCanada is pleased to announce the launch of its ADOPTION IN CANADA media campaign to raise awareness of infant adoption. (See attached ads.)

In Canada, less than 2% of single women facing an unplanned pregnancy will place their children for adoption. For many, adoption is a frightening and unthinkable prospect. For some, it means “giving up” their child to complete strangers and never hearing about them again. They are misinformed and this campaign will give them the facts about all the choices women have with adoption.

“Adoption is a good choice, and birth parents deserve all of the information available about this choice,” says project director, Anastasia Bowles. “They need to know that times have changed. They need to know that open adoption—where the birth parents select the adoptive families and negotiate future contact and involvement—is common practice today. They need to know that there is help for them and there are people who will support them.”

“We hope to change attitudes with this campaign,” Bowles adds. “Typically, even the language commonly used about adoption is negative. Those in adoption-related fields prefer to say a woman ‘places’ or ‘releases’--not ‘gives up’--her child for adoption. We promote respect for those women who have made that difficult, but heroic, choice. In the past, adoptions were secret, shame-filled proceedings. Even today, a stigma remains attached to adoption. Adoptees and adoptive parents often suffer due to painful misconceptions and negative stereotypes. The Adoption in Canada campaign challenges those misconceptions and highlights the fact that adoption can be a positive, albeit sometimes difficult, journey for all involved.”

MP Maurice Vellacott, who sits on the Human Resources Parliamentary Committee just launching a study on adoption, commends the Adoption in Canada campaign. “The Adoption in Canada campaign helps to raise awareness of infant adoption in Canada,” he says. “The campaign promotes respect for adoptive families, adoptees and especially, birth parents, recognizing that all have a unique and important role in strengthening Canadian families and communities.”

The Adoption in Canada media campaign is a nationwide project targeted specifically to women aged 18 to 29 years who are facing an unforeseen pregnancy and who may never have been told about adoption and what it means…today.

The campaign is the result of exhaustive research. Numerous birth parents, adoptive families and adoptees were interviewed, as were those who work in adoption-related fields. The end result is an ad campaign designed by those who understand the issue. It includes a comprehensive website for birth parents with information, links to support groups, a toll-free helpline, and video testimonials from those whose lives have been touched by adoption. The website is a valuable learning tool for those facing unforeseen pregnancies who might not otherwise consider adoption.

The website may be viewed at www.adoptionincanada.ca.

I'm still at the pro-life conference in Ottawa, and will be blogging about a few things this Monday. In the meantime, here are some pictures of the pro-life conference in Ottawa. In order of appearance, we have John Smeaton (Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, Peter Ryan (Life Canada), Alex Schadenberg (Euthanasia Prevention Coalition), André Bourque (Living with Dignity), Rebecca Richmond (National Campus Life Network), Lia Mills (of YouTube fame), Faytene Kryskow (4MyCanada), Rod Bruinooge (who will present C-510 in Parliament Monday), former Liberal pro-life MP Tom Wappel, John-Henry Westen (LifeSiteNews), Reverend Johnny Hunter (LEARN), and Jim Hughes (President of Campaign Life Coalition).