Accredited
agency with successful history of placements
AU
BERCEAU DE LA VIE (BERCEAU) was founded in
1993 by a group of adoptive parents in Quebec and
has been successfully fulfilling its humanitarian
mission under the license of the Ministère
de la Santé et des Services sociaux of Quebec
valid till February 18th, 2007 in accordance with
le "Code
d'éthique des organismes agréés
du Québec en adoption internationale." BERCEAU is
one of the six Canadian adoption agencies officially
recognized by the Russian authorities to place children
of all ages and needs from Russia with Canadian families.
The official certificate of Berceau's accreditation
in Russia was issued on August 15th, 2001 by the
Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation.
Competent,
caring, experienced and empathetic staff
BERCEAU staff
members are knowledgeable professionals dedicated to
providing the best service to families. They are well
informed and responsive, understanding well that the
adoption process is a serious and often emotionally
taxing journey. A number of BERCEAU staff
members, including the Executive Director and Deputy
Director, are adoptive parents.
Superb
in-country infrastructure
BERCEAU's outstanding
in-country staff, extensive experience and established
partnerships with the federal and regional administrations
along with local orphanages combine to create a widely
respected infrastructure within the NIS. This results
in our ability to provide comfortable, efficient and
successful adoption programs for families. BERCEAU's active
adoption programs currently include Russia. BERCEAU works
in over 6 orphanages throughout country and has developed
a long history of cooperation in most regions. The
orphanage personnel, local judges and officials have
placed a great deal of trust in our organization and
rely on us to help legally available orphans find permanent
homes as soon as possible.
Final
adoption
Adoption of children
from Russia is conducted in the child's birth country
and is a final and binding judicial process.
Immediate
placements
Unfortunately, there
are more waiting children than qualified parents. According
to Russian statistics, there are over half a million
children in more than 900 state-run orphanages across
Russia. About 40-50,000 of the Russian children in
orphanages (10%) are legally adoptable. While many
factors influence why the children are not adopted
domestically and why so many precious children remain
in institutional care, the fact remains that these
children deserve homes regardless of national boundaries. BERCEAU's respect
for the federal and regional laws and policies, coupled
with its commitment to building families, allows us
to match children with eligible families into permanent
loving homes, typically within a very short period
of time.
Post-adoption
network/cultural links for children
The overwhelming majority
of families who have adopted overseas agree that a
permanent link to the child's country of birth is established
the moment the adoption takes place. The adopted child
becomes an ambassador of good will and the adoptive
parents take pride in cultivating this ethnic tie to
their child's birth country. As the child grows, this
link to their birth country becomes crucial to their
sense of identity. Child experts agree that fostering
an open, loving perspective on the child's adoption
encourages confidence, stability and acceptance. Families
adopting through BERCEAU's program
are immediately included into the "Berceau Family" network
which promotes the child's cultural heritage through
social events, reunions and other resources. Families
are encouraged to join "Friends of Berceau," a
volunteer group comprised of adoptive parents that
works on projects and programs in support of the children
remaining in institutions in Russia.
