National Adoption Week aims to raise the awareness about adoption and bust any myths people may have around it. Through the #YouCanAdopt campaign, information about who can adopt, eligibility criteria and some first-hand experience from families who have been on the journey can be found.
Some statistics*
- 80,850 children were in the care of local authorities during the year ending 31 March 2021
- 3,600 children had an adoption best interest decision but were not yet placed at the year ending 31 March 2021
- 2,870 looked after children were adopted during the year ending 31 March 2021
*Source: Statistics: England | CoramBAAF
Here is the story about O and L from Russell Thomas, Head of Marketing for People and Corporate Services at The Growth Company.
A story about O and L, and K and R
Once upon a time, in a land not so far away (Wigan), two people (Kenni and Russell) wanted to start their family. Adoption was always the path they wanted to travel (although there are other avenues people can take), providing a safe and loving home for a child who may not have been given the best start.
Every journey is unique however, for us, through family bereavements and global pandemics, ours was a little longer. Even though we started the process in 2019, it wasn’t until February 2021 we were matched with two little boys. Enter O and L.
O and L are biological brothers aged 3 and 5 at the time, who were in foster care due to a chaotic home life.
For us, the process started by attending an initial presentation at a local community hall where we discovered more about the children in care, the various stages of the process, and what we needed to do if we wanted to continue.
We did, and from that point onwards we were matched with a social worker, attended various workshops, and completed many forms which established our suitability for being a parent. As we approached the end of this stage (Stage 1), we had a sudden bereavement in the family which put the journey on hold. This was then exacerbated with Covid-19 which meant we paused for around 6 months.
Unfortunately, global pandemics or not, there were, and still are, thousands of children in need of a loving home, so once our adoption agency had ironed out the logistics of continuing the process, we started again. We completed Stage 1 of the process and attended a (virtual) panel where we got the green light to continue onto Stage 2 and be matched with a child.
We then started to receive information about various children within the care system, and then we were presented with a simple leaflet with two little boys on the cover. We read a brief bio about the boys and knew instantly they were our sons.
O, 5 years old, very polite and caring, and full of energy. L, 3 years old, a ‘real character’, and full of energy. The words ‘full of energy’ should have come with a caveat (*understatement!). Once we expressed our interest in boys, we started to receive more information about them – everything from their start in life, their interests, what they’re like in school – even weight, height, immunisation status’ etc. We then met with their social worker and their foster carer to learn what they were really like, their routine, and the more we learned, the more we fell in love with them.
The workshops and meetings with social workers continued until we were eventually matched with them. We then ‘bumped’ into them in a park – arguably the second most nervous we have ever been (the first is coming up). They didn’t really notice us, but we got to see them in ‘real-life’ rather than on a piece of paper. That same week we attended our final stage panel – again virtually – got approved and then started the transition process.
The most nervous part of the journey was officially meeting them for the first time. This is again unique to everyone but for us it was the best day of our lives. From that point onwards we essentially moved in with the foster carer and gradually over 10 days (just 10) we spent more and more time with them until they moved into their forever home.
From that point on life became very different, but in the best possible way. We had to learn very quickly how to manage home, school, nursery, work, kids’ parties, the washing machine constantly been on, never being able to find anything, not having anything nice etc. I think that’s what people call parenting?
Now over 14 months on we proud of both our boys and us. They are happy, healthy, safe and most importantly loved. It’s not easy, but nothing ever worth having is. #FullOfEnergyUnderstatement.
If you would like more information about of adoption, there are many online resources available from Adoption Matters | Children's charity and voluntary adoption agency and Adoption Counts | to name just a few.