Mon 17th Oct 2022 – 2 min read   Written by Hayley Bowen – Marketing Executive Today is the start of National Adoption Week 2022, which focuses on the theme of identity and relationships. The organisers of National Adoption Week, You Can Adopt, have put together a video exploring the memories and relationships of adopted people before during and after they were adopted and how those memories and relationships have made them who they are today. Watch the video here. A public survey revealed that eight in ten people say their identity is shaped through connections made throughout their lif ..read more

Fri 14th Oct 2022 – 1 min read     Written by Mahongo Shibemba – Team Manager   It’s Black History Month, and we thought this Children’s Black History Quiz courtesy of Polaris Community, could be interesting for older children to test their knowledge, or for younger children in the family or in the support network to give it a go with the help of an adult. You can complete the quiz in its original format (as is) or be creative about it. For example, exploring the themes, perhaps a few questions at a time and including movies or craft ideas. Why not give it a try over the half-te ..read more

“Having the same blood didn’t matter, we just wanted to be a family.” Wed 8th Jun 2022 – 3 min read Frances, an adoptive mother for Adopters for Adoption began her adoption journey with her husband, Carl back in 2019.   For Frances and Carl, adoption became their option of choice to start their own family following past difficulties conceiving. She said: “We didn’t want to go down the IVF route after going through a difficult period of pregnancy losses. For us, having the same blood didn’t matter, we just wanted to have a family.” Frances added: “ My ex sister-in-law was one of 7 childre ..read more

Fri 29th Apr 2022 – 4 min read   Written by Hayley Bowen – Marketing Executive & dog owner One of the many questions we get asked about adoption is ‘can you adopt if you have pets?’ The short answer is, yes! But did you know that there are actually many benefits of having pets, for children? We want to share with you the benefits having a pet can bring, particularly to adopted children who may need support with their social and emotional development. Pets provide children with a sense of responsibility and purpose Owning any kind of pet teaches children how to be responsible for ano ..read more

  Wed 13 Apr 2022 – 3 min read Written by Heather Liveston – Principle Social Worker & adopted person I was surprised when I traced my birth family (thirty years ago) to find that I had a number of full siblings, and I was so excited!  Having grown up as an only child, I had always wanted brothers and sisters.  Of course, as with many aspects of family reunion, developing and sustaining a relationship with them was more complex and challenging than I thought and the relationships I hoped I would have, did not materialise (with the exception of one lovely sister who I am ve ..read more

Wed 9 Mar 2022 – 2 min read  Written by Heather Liveston – Principle Social Worker & LGBT+ person I remember the first LGBT + Adoption and Fostering Week after I started working with Adopters for Adoption. As a same-sex parent myself, I was proud of joining an agency who were welcoming of LGBT + adopters.  Three years later, I find myself reflecting on the progress we have made. We have, of course, continued to assess and approve prospective adopters from the LGBT + community but we have also taken steps to improve our understanding and knowledge regarding sexuality, sexual orien ..read more

The 3rd of December is International Day of Persons with Disabilities, a day that aims to promote the rights and wellbeing of persons with disabilities in all areas of society. Children are our future and that future should be an inclusive one, in which children with disabilities can enjoy the same human rights and freedoms as others. According to Scope around 8% of children in the UK are disabled, but this figure could be higher as often neuro-development problems don’t come to light until a child reaches school age (around the age of 5). Children with disabilities typically wait longer to be ..read more

Tiegan aged 19, was adopted aged 4. With her mum in prison when she was born Tiegan lived with her for five months to then go into the care of her dad until she was two. Following concerns around his ability to provide a safe and stable home, Tiegan was then taken into emergency protection and was fostered when she was two and a half years old. After living with a mum and daughter for a couple of years, Tiegan was adopted age 4 by her two mums. Though Tiegan found the shift from foster care to adoption tough at the beginning, she soon settled in began comfortably calling her adoptive parents ..read more

This National adoption week, Sarah shares her adoption story. Sarah, an adoptive mother of one, always wanted a biological child but also knew she wanted to adopt one day. She initially thought you need to be in a relationship to have children but, once she reached 40, she realised she didn’t need to have a partner and didn’t need to give birth to be a mother. Though Sarah knows this wouldn’t happen today, at the beginning of her adoption journey more than 11 years ago, Sarah was turned down because she was a single parent – but this didn’t put her off revisiting the idea 3 years later. Sarah ..read more

Adoptive Grandmother Sue, tell her own adoption story and shows us that adoption effects more than the immediate family. Sue is the biological mum of 27-year old Molly and ‘Granny’ to Molly’s two children.  Sue was there for Molly as she suffered several miscarriages, followed by quite a traumatic pregnancy and birth of her first daughter.  After these experiences, Molly decided she didn’t want to be pregnant again and adopted a second child, a son, now aged two. Sue admits she knew very little about adoption before Molly and her husband considered it amid the COVID-19 lockdown.&nbs ..read more