Telling the other side of the adoption and fostering process in Manitoba perhaps inevitably ends up questioning the failures of the government child care system. In this study, I itemize the difficulties dealing with the foster care system that ultimately led to my unsuccessful attempt to become a Manitoba foster parent.

Like the impoverished child in the candy store window, both systemic and personal barriers prevented me from becoming a parent. Although I began this journey innocently enough by applying for both adoption services and foster parenthood, I was soon confronted by a deep-seated prejudice against single men as fathers, a strange subtle ignorance masquerading as professionalism, and ultimately what I interpreted to be a profound conservatism and institutional mendacity.

This book ended up being unusually well documented, for I thought I would be writing about a developing bond between a parent and a child. Instead, I ended up with a five-year record of governmental bungling and CFS' transparent attempts to undermine my efforts.