Struggling with infertility, Ottawa couple told they can't foster children, either

An Ottawa couple is calling out the Children's Aid Society (CAS) because they believe the agency unfairly rejected their application to become foster parents due to its concerns over their struggles with infertility. 

Alana and Alec Jenkin had hoped to welcome a foster child into their home with the help of CAS Ottawa (CASO) in September 2021.

The couple said before embarking on what turned into a nearly year-long application process, they were honest with their case worker about their difficulties conceiving a child of their own, and said they were seeking treatment. 

They never suspected the information would be held against them, but 10 months after applying they learned they'd been rejected.

"By phone she told us that she was worried there was a sense of emotional instability because we were going through fertility treatments, and as a result were not a stable enough home," said Alana Jenkin.  

The couple was doubly devastated. 

"It literally felt like the universe thinks we can't have children, and now the government's telling us we aren't capable either. That is what it felt like," Alana Jenkin said. "We know that's not true." 

The couple was told to reapply in six months to a year, but after the emotionally draining ordeal, on top of their own infertility issues — which they're still working on three years later — they were hesitant to try again.

"It just left us very empty, confused and demoralized at the end. Where do we go from here? The Children's Aid Society doesn't deem us fit to be guardians or foster care providers," Alec Jenkin said.

The couple had initially thought they'd have an excellent chance at being approved as foster parents because they checked all the boxes on CASO's website: They're married, working stable jobs with the federal government, and were open to fostering a child of any age, identity or culture. They were even willing to foster siblings, considered a high-need category at the time. 

At the mandatory information session they attended, three different foster families were brought in as examples. One couple had recently given birth and still had two newborns placed in her care, the Jenkins said.

It left them wondering how being pregnant or already having children was acceptable to CASO, but working on having a family was not. 

"If our problems were considered too big of barriers, who would be able or eligible?" Alana Jenkin asked. "I think the truth is, people with kids."

In a statement, CASO said matching each child with the right family is a complex process, and potential foster parents must be able to adapt to the diverse needs of the children in the agency's care.