An 11-year-old leukemia patient in Hamilton who does not want to continue chemotherapy treatment will not be placed into foster care once he is released from hospital.

Instead, his parents have reached an agreement with the Children's Aid Society that will allow them to take the boy home after his treatment, although CAS will remain responsible for his medical care decisions.

The Hamilton CAS was granted custody of the 11-year-old after his father told doctors, against their advice, that his son no longer wanted chemotherapy and had said that he wanted to try alternative therapies.

The agreement, which has been endorsed by a judge, will allow the parents access to second and third options from experts. They will be allowed to hear what medical experts -- both conventional and alternative medical specialists -- say about the boy's prognosis.

The boy's father told The Canadian Press that he still hopes to find expert opinion that would recommend an alternative treatment instead of chemotherapy.

"The boy is coming out of care and the supervision order for the treatment, however, remains in effect, and we will continue to work with the family in terms of seeing the treatments through," Dianne Pearson, manager of communications and development for the Hamilton CAS, told CTV.ca.

"Right now we had to play by their fiddle and that's fine," said the boy's father, who cannot be named because his son was in CAS custody.

Dominic Verticchio, executive director of the Hamilton CAS, told CTV Newsnet on Tuesday that the boy had undergone a psychiatric assessment to determine if he was able to make an informed choice about his treatment.

"The assessment basically stated that the child did not grasp the consequences of his decision and therefore, that information was also passed on to the court for their review and decision-making," Verticchio said.

Verticchio said that the Child and Family Services Act in Ontario states that when parents are unavailable, unable or unwilling to give their child medical treatment, doctors are required to call a Children's Aid Society. The boy's doctors had advised him to continue with chemotherapy treatments, and so the Hamilton CAS brought the evidence before a court.

The child's father told The Canadian Press before the court appearance that he hoped that his boy could re-join the family.

The father said that his son is tired and distraught, not only because he is having chemotherapy against his will, but also because he is being watched over by security guards and CAS workers.

"He's a little prisoner, he can't leave his room or anything, he can't visit with any other sick children, he can't go anywhere because he's under house arrest,'' the father said.

"He's a criminal for having cancer.''

The boy has acute lympoblastic leukemia, which was first diagnosed when he was seven years old. After undergoing chemotherapy he went into remission, but the disease returned earlier this year.

Doctors have told the boy that without more chemotherapy, he only has about six months to live. However, they told him that he has a 50 per cent chance of beating the leukemia with treatment.

The child's father said that he has tried to keep his son's spirits up so he doesn't get stressed, which can worsen his illness.

"We told him, 'Don't worry buddy, please try to be healthy, relax, relax, relax, relax,' and he even said to me, 'I don't care. They can even kill me with their chemo and stuff I don't care, as long as I can come home and be home with you and mommy,'' the father said.

"You know what that feels like to hear your son say that?'"

The father said that his son hopes to write a story to inspire other kids with cancer.

"It's all about his cancer journey that he's had because he wants other families and other children to know what he's been going through and how his faith has taken him this far and hopefully it'll help other families,'' he said.

"At least he'll know that his voice got out and maybe it'll help some other family have courage and faith to fight and go on and go on."