Adopting a baby from another country can be a lengthy and uncertain process at the best of times, but now at least 10 Manitoba families are in financial and emotional limbo after the Canadian adoption agency they were relying on went out of business.
Laura Morrison and her husband have been looking to adopt a child from Ethiopia since last summer.
They chose Ethiopia because it is often an easier country to adopt a child from.
Now more than a year into the formal process Morrison is devastated by news her adoption agency has closed its doors.
"Every hope and dream I've had of this was shattered in moments, in moments," Morrison said.
On Monday, Ontario-based Imagine Adoption filed for bankruptcy protection.
The company owes its creditors more than $1 million and it leaves some 400 Canadian families with few answers.
Morrison had thus far invested more than $15,000 on her bid and was told she was weeks away from receiving a match.
"I don't care if I see a cent, I just want to be done, I just want my child," Morrison said.
Rob Godin who represents Canadian Advocate for the Adoption of Children, an international adoption agency based in Minnedosa, says he has received about 100 calls.
Godin has adopted two Ethiopian children himself and he understands what the parents are going through, but says it is too early to tell how, or if, his agency can help.
Morrison has chronicled her adoption journey on her blog and is asking everyone and anyone to sign an online petition to help the families and children in various stages of adoption.
With a report from CTV's Marni Kagan
