Single parents

Meet the Imrie family: Jody, a special education teacher and foster-turned-adoptive mom who lives in Vancouver; her daughter, Kristina (6); and her son, Krillen (7).

How did you get started as a foster parent?

From the time I was a teenager, I always knew I wanted to adopt children.  I just always felt that there were so many children in the world who needed a home, and I wanted to give one to some of them rather than bring more children into the world.  I didn’t feel a need for my children to be biologically related to me. 

• Go on a date with your partner/friend.
• Can your kids go for a sleepover?

Growing up you see your parents' "mistakes" in raising you, and you swear never to be like them. Then you become a parent.

Suddenly you no longer see your parents as having made mistakes; rather, they were surviving in the forever challenging world of parenthood.

Most days, as I push our stroller up a hill loaded with my son and a week’s supply of groceries and feel the muscles in my arms and legs working, I am reminded of the total body workouts I used to enjoy at my local gym.

Not that long ago I lived a very different life, one that included a husband, and a charming little house that we  owned on a tree-lined street, a fulfilling full-time job, a fun fashion part-time job, volunteer work as a board director for two companies, four weekly gym workouts, and a circle of friends for dinner parties and occasional travel.

If we overlook single people as possible adoptive parents, we could be missing out on wonderful parents for our kids.

There’s little doubt about it, the chances of adopting if you are single are slimmer than for couples. This not only affects single people, it also means that children miss out on a loving, committed parent.

BC social workers report that same-sex couples are being approved for adoption in equal proportion to heterosexual applicants, but are not being matched to children in the same numbers.

A University of British Columbia (UBC) study on barriers to adoption in BC reveals some extra challenges that gay, lesbian, and single parent applicants may face when trying to adopt a child from the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD).

Growing up, you see your parents’ “mistakes” in raising you, and you swear never to be like them. Then you become a parent.Suddenly you no longer see your parents as having made mistakes, rather they were surviving in the forever challenging world of parenthood.

Michelle and David Huck married in 2000, and since then life has been a blur of backpacks, lunch kits and homework.

As parents to Indira, 10, Soleil, 9, Saul, 8, and Samuel, 6, the couple’s Calgary life is one long domestic balancing act — and they wouldn’t have it any other way.

"We’re at the dance studio, we’re playing the piano before school — it’s a gong show," Ms. Huck said.

Do big adoptive families work better for children with attachment issues? The families we spoke to all think so.

These days, having numerous kids tends to be considered eccentric. For some children though, a bursting-at-the-seams-family may be exactly what they need.

Five years ago Sophie Perkins* was an empty nester in her fifites with a busy career. She had no idea that she was soon to become a full-time mother again.

Though Sophie knew that her daughter-in-law and son weren’t parenting their children adequately, as she lived some distance from the family, she didn’t have a full grasp of the situation. Her son and daughter-in-law made great efforts to appear as though they lived relatively "normal" lives.