After 3 decades in operation a Victoria adoption and counselling agency is set to close down on May 31st.
Choices Adoption and Pregnancy Counselling Agency, in the 800-block of Blanshard Street, cites declining numbers of international adoptions.
A notice on the agency's website blames policy changes that have led to fewer children being placed for adoption, and countries that are increasingly looking to place children within their "kinship systems and cultures."
Families currently in the home study phase or waiting for a child proposal will have their file transferred to another agency, or to the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Details of the transfer process will be sent to families in the coming weeks.
The agency has helped more than 1000 children find their permanent families in the past 30 years.