As a follow up to the HAIR post - I have more thoughts and answers to questions...
I was reminded (thanks Kerri) by a reader on the HAIR post about nose hair - that is icky too. While I thought and contemplated nose hair (I know, I know) - EAR hair popped into my mind also - ICK!! I am not a fan of either one of those.
A reader asked what else goes on in my brain if I am blogging about hair - Michele - I think it would scare you to know what goes in inside my brain - TRULY!!
I would also like to clarify that Mark does not WAX his chest.
I do think that hair grooming is something that guys just don't talk about. Not being a guy I wouldn't really know - but that is my guess.
Now rogue eyebrows just popped into my head...
O.k. time for another topic!!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
End Date...
First off - what is wrong with me doing two posts in two days...
Anyway - there are so many of us waiting for our children from China. None of us has expected the HUGE wait that we have/had before us.
I am just wondering if people out there have wavered. Have you had a date in your head that if you don't receive a referral by a certain date that you are pulling out.
What about a certain age of yourselves? If you don't receive a referral when you reach a certain age will you withdraw?
What about your current family situation? Do you already have children? Does that make the wait easier or harder? Does it make you want to pull out or stay in?
We are looking at an additional 5 year wait from NOW - unless something drastically changes - for our daughter from China. This is certainly NOT what we signed up for.
Would you - if able - pursue a concurrent adoption and have your child from China be the second child instead of the first child?
I just have so much rambling on in my head right now.
Anyway - there are so many of us waiting for our children from China. None of us has expected the HUGE wait that we have/had before us.
I am just wondering if people out there have wavered. Have you had a date in your head that if you don't receive a referral by a certain date that you are pulling out.
What about a certain age of yourselves? If you don't receive a referral when you reach a certain age will you withdraw?
What about your current family situation? Do you already have children? Does that make the wait easier or harder? Does it make you want to pull out or stay in?
We are looking at an additional 5 year wait from NOW - unless something drastically changes - for our daughter from China. This is certainly NOT what we signed up for.
Would you - if able - pursue a concurrent adoption and have your child from China be the second child instead of the first child?
I just have so much rambling on in my head right now.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Hair...
I am definitely partial to short hair on guys.
I was just looking through some old pictures and seeing some guys with longer hair who have recently cut it short and I can say that the short hair looks WAY better - no exceptions.
I have pictures of my brother, nephews and friends and can say that they ALL look better with the shorter hair look.
I don't even know what the current 'trend' is - but I can hope that short hair stays 'in' and 'cool'.
Then there is the chest hair thing...if you have it - keep it under control! Better yet - wax it off!! Now I realize that most men, at the thought of waxing their chest hair, would quickly jump in their heads to the 40 Year Old Vir*gin movie and that infamous waxing scene. So I understand the hesitancy to wax, but trimming works too.
Just as men are partial to NO underarm or leg hair and either none or 'controlled' bikini hair - women like men to have their hair 'controlled' too!!
Those are my thoughts of the day.
.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Bad Blogger...
I have been a bad blogger lately. I really do MEAN to write more often, but somehow I just don't have anything to say.
This blog started out to chronicle our journey to our daughter and I suppose it still is, we just thought it would take months and not years.
It is really hard to keep the momentum going for so long and knowing that there is possibly another 5 years of waiting ahead of us...sigh
So I am just wondering - who reads this? Who is out there?
Leave a comment and let me know. If you use anonymous - leave your name too!!
This blog started out to chronicle our journey to our daughter and I suppose it still is, we just thought it would take months and not years.
It is really hard to keep the momentum going for so long and knowing that there is possibly another 5 years of waiting ahead of us...sigh
So I am just wondering - who reads this? Who is out there?
Leave a comment and let me know. If you use anonymous - leave your name too!!
Saturday, March 07, 2009
Ontarians please read...
I copied this post from Beth with her permission. Please read if you are adopting a child in Ontario. I was mortified when I read this.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
My Fellow Ontarians
Prepare your dialing fingers ladies. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has decided that our children don't get OHIP coverage right away!!!!!!!!!! They have decided that a 3 month waiting period is mandatory. Please read this and spread it around. I got it from here. I know many of you don't read RQ so you might not have seen it.
Re: New Directive from OHIP Head Office that denies OHIP coverage for 3 months for all internationally adopted children
We are Donna and Brad, a couple who adopted a baby girl, Thao, from Viet Nam. We went to Viet Nam and adopted our daughter on Dec. 29th, 2008. She was granted Canadian citizenship on January 7, 2009. On February 12th, Brad went to the Kitchener OHIP office to apply for Thao's OHIP number. We were shocked when she was refused a number and told that there was now a 3 month waiting period for internationally adopted children. We thought that there had been a mistake.
Brad returned home and called the information line to obtain clarification about what exactly the policy was about granting coverage to internationally adopted children. The woman who he spoke with told him that a memo had been sent out from the Minister's office to all OHIP offices on January 27th, 2009 directing them to refuse coverage to children who were not Canadian citizens when they were adopted. Of course, Brad explained that that is impossible, that the process is that a child is adopted and then becomes a Canadian citizen. The woman checked with OHIP's head office and confirmed that the correct procedure is to deny OHIP coverage in our case. Brad asked why it was that the 2 other couples, who we met in Saigon and who had adopted children at the same time as we had, had gone to their OHIP offices in Toronto and Ottawa and had been immediately given OHIP numbers. She told him that their situations must be different from ours since they were granted OHIP numbers. When he assured her that they had adopted their children after us and had obtained their children's Canadian citizenship after Thao had obtained hers, she asked him if he could send her their information. He asked her if their coverage could be revoked if it was determined that their situations were the same as ours. She replied that, yes, their coverage could be revoked. Brad told her that he obviously
wasn't going to provide her with any information that could jeopardize their children's OHIP coverage.
After many phone calls, emails, and meetings with OHIP officials, our local MPP, our social worker, other parents, lawyers, and adoption agency directors, we now know the following: we were not a clerical error. We were not a special case. We were not a mistake. Denial of coverage to internationally adopted children for 3 months is policy. This policy was not publicized so it is taking everyone involved in adoption, from agency directors, to social workers, to parents, by surprise. This policy is so new that it is being inconsistently applied from OHIP office to OHIP office so that on the same day in Ontario, one child might be granted OHIP coverage while somewhere else in the province another child in exactly the same circumstances is denied it. However, one thing is clear: while, as far as we know, our child was the first to be denied coverage, the numbers of children who are being denied is increasing every day throughout the entire province.
The first thing that everyone who has adopted a child, or is going to adopt in the future, needs to know is that the Ministry of Health considers the granting of OHIP coverage to all internationally adopted children in the past to be a mistake. The Ministry has been contacted by many agency directors and social workers who have heard about our case, and, we surmise that as a result of the number of queries about the denial of coverage for our daughter, Sue Graham, a representative from the head office of the Ministry of Health contacted us to obtain more information about our case. What she told us exactly was that the Ministry considers that all adopted children, who did not have citizenship or valid immigration status on the date they were adopted, were given OHIP coverage by mistake. She clearly stated that the refusal to grant our daughter coverage until after a 3 month waiting period was the correct procedure. She told us that our file was being sent to her manager and would most likely be sent to her manager's manager.
On Wednesday, March 4th, we received the official denial of the three month waiting period exemption for our daughter. The core of their argument is that "an adopted child must hold a citizenship or immigration status recognized under Regulation 552 of the Health Insurance Act on the date of adoption". Of course, as you know, this is impossible since you can't get citizenship until after you have actually adopted your child. This is definitely a change in policy and from what we understand is the result of the memo/directive (we haven't been able to get a copy) from Minister Caplan's office on Jan. 27, 2009, although, as we wrote, not all health offices have been enforcing it. As has been mentioned, two other couples who were in Saigon with us and returned after us, one to Ottawa and one to Toronto, got immediate coverage.
So, where do things stand right now? Needless to say, we are incensed for Thao and for all internationally adopted children. We have retained a lawyer and have filed a formal appeal to the Ministry of Health. Our lawyer and other interested lawyers have studied the Health Insurance Act line by line to determine if the provincial government's position has any validity. In their view, there is not a requirement for citizenship on the date of adoption.
We are also in touch with members of the media to make this public. We are sending this email to as many adoption agencies, social workers, and parents, as we can, as we become aware of them.
We are sending this to you to ask you for your help in our fight against what is obviously an unjust and discriminatory policy. If you know of anyone who has been refused health care coverage for their child, please ask them to email us immediately (donna.brad@sympatico.ca). As well, please email, Premier McGuinty, Minister of Health Caplan, your local MPP, and Sue Graham at OHIP (sue.graham@ontario.ca). The person who sent us the letter informing us of Thao's denial of OHIP coverage did not provide an email address. However, her name is Susan Pinnery, A/Director, Registration and Claims Branch.
Finally, we believe that the provincial government thinks that the number of people affected by this policy is small and that we don't carry much weight. Therefore, please forward this on to your friends, relatives, and anyone else who is opposed to this policy.
Cheers,
Brad and Donna
Time to call your MPP.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
My Fellow Ontarians
Prepare your dialing fingers ladies. The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care has decided that our children don't get OHIP coverage right away!!!!!!!!!! They have decided that a 3 month waiting period is mandatory. Please read this and spread it around. I got it from here. I know many of you don't read RQ so you might not have seen it.
Re: New Directive from OHIP Head Office that denies OHIP coverage for 3 months for all internationally adopted children
We are Donna and Brad, a couple who adopted a baby girl, Thao, from Viet Nam. We went to Viet Nam and adopted our daughter on Dec. 29th, 2008. She was granted Canadian citizenship on January 7, 2009. On February 12th, Brad went to the Kitchener OHIP office to apply for Thao's OHIP number. We were shocked when she was refused a number and told that there was now a 3 month waiting period for internationally adopted children. We thought that there had been a mistake.
Brad returned home and called the information line to obtain clarification about what exactly the policy was about granting coverage to internationally adopted children. The woman who he spoke with told him that a memo had been sent out from the Minister's office to all OHIP offices on January 27th, 2009 directing them to refuse coverage to children who were not Canadian citizens when they were adopted. Of course, Brad explained that that is impossible, that the process is that a child is adopted and then becomes a Canadian citizen. The woman checked with OHIP's head office and confirmed that the correct procedure is to deny OHIP coverage in our case. Brad asked why it was that the 2 other couples, who we met in Saigon and who had adopted children at the same time as we had, had gone to their OHIP offices in Toronto and Ottawa and had been immediately given OHIP numbers. She told him that their situations must be different from ours since they were granted OHIP numbers. When he assured her that they had adopted their children after us and had obtained their children's Canadian citizenship after Thao had obtained hers, she asked him if he could send her their information. He asked her if their coverage could be revoked if it was determined that their situations were the same as ours. She replied that, yes, their coverage could be revoked. Brad told her that he obviously
wasn't going to provide her with any information that could jeopardize their children's OHIP coverage.
After many phone calls, emails, and meetings with OHIP officials, our local MPP, our social worker, other parents, lawyers, and adoption agency directors, we now know the following: we were not a clerical error. We were not a special case. We were not a mistake. Denial of coverage to internationally adopted children for 3 months is policy. This policy was not publicized so it is taking everyone involved in adoption, from agency directors, to social workers, to parents, by surprise. This policy is so new that it is being inconsistently applied from OHIP office to OHIP office so that on the same day in Ontario, one child might be granted OHIP coverage while somewhere else in the province another child in exactly the same circumstances is denied it. However, one thing is clear: while, as far as we know, our child was the first to be denied coverage, the numbers of children who are being denied is increasing every day throughout the entire province.
The first thing that everyone who has adopted a child, or is going to adopt in the future, needs to know is that the Ministry of Health considers the granting of OHIP coverage to all internationally adopted children in the past to be a mistake. The Ministry has been contacted by many agency directors and social workers who have heard about our case, and, we surmise that as a result of the number of queries about the denial of coverage for our daughter, Sue Graham, a representative from the head office of the Ministry of Health contacted us to obtain more information about our case. What she told us exactly was that the Ministry considers that all adopted children, who did not have citizenship or valid immigration status on the date they were adopted, were given OHIP coverage by mistake. She clearly stated that the refusal to grant our daughter coverage until after a 3 month waiting period was the correct procedure. She told us that our file was being sent to her manager and would most likely be sent to her manager's manager.
On Wednesday, March 4th, we received the official denial of the three month waiting period exemption for our daughter. The core of their argument is that "an adopted child must hold a citizenship or immigration status recognized under Regulation 552 of the Health Insurance Act on the date of adoption". Of course, as you know, this is impossible since you can't get citizenship until after you have actually adopted your child. This is definitely a change in policy and from what we understand is the result of the memo/directive (we haven't been able to get a copy) from Minister Caplan's office on Jan. 27, 2009, although, as we wrote, not all health offices have been enforcing it. As has been mentioned, two other couples who were in Saigon with us and returned after us, one to Ottawa and one to Toronto, got immediate coverage.
So, where do things stand right now? Needless to say, we are incensed for Thao and for all internationally adopted children. We have retained a lawyer and have filed a formal appeal to the Ministry of Health. Our lawyer and other interested lawyers have studied the Health Insurance Act line by line to determine if the provincial government's position has any validity. In their view, there is not a requirement for citizenship on the date of adoption.
We are also in touch with members of the media to make this public. We are sending this email to as many adoption agencies, social workers, and parents, as we can, as we become aware of them.
We are sending this to you to ask you for your help in our fight against what is obviously an unjust and discriminatory policy. If you know of anyone who has been refused health care coverage for their child, please ask them to email us immediately (donna.brad@sympatico.ca). As well, please email, Premier McGuinty, Minister of Health Caplan, your local MPP, and Sue Graham at OHIP (sue.graham@ontario.ca). The person who sent us the letter informing us of Thao's denial of OHIP coverage did not provide an email address. However, her name is Susan Pinnery, A/Director, Registration and Claims Branch.
Finally, we believe that the provincial government thinks that the number of people affected by this policy is small and that we don't carry much weight. Therefore, please forward this on to your friends, relatives, and anyone else who is opposed to this policy.
Cheers,
Brad and Donna
Time to call your MPP.
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Out of Curiosity...
Just out of curiosity, when you leave a comment on someones blog, do you click the "E-mail follow-up comments" button?
Just wondering...
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