Adoption Basics
What is adoption?
Adoption is the process of bringing a child into your family who is actually the birth child of another family. It's a legal process which transfers parental and legal responsibility for the child, from the birth family to the adoptive family.
Why should people adopt?
Adoption is just such a fantastic way of giving security permanence, and the chance to grow up in a loving family. Giving children who may have had very difficult starts in their life just the same opportunities as any other child. It is an amazing thing to do.
Who can adopt?
There are no blanket bounds about who can adopt. Essentially you have to be over 21, you can't have criminal convictions for harming a child, but other than that, anybody can apply to adopt. The important thing to say though is there is no right to adopt and you would need to be assessed and go through a long and complex process just like anybody else because this is a very important decision. You have to make sure that you're the right and fit person to adopt a child who may be really very vulnerable.
Who are the children needing adoption?
There's such a wide range of children who need adopting. There are many hundreds, thousands of children in England alone who need adopting every year. They may be children who are tiny babies, they may be children who are 12, they may be children who are in large sibling groups, they may be single children, they may be children from different black and minority ethnic background, they may be older children, and they may be children with disabilities. Such a wide range of children, but all sharing one common need to find a loving and permanent family.
What do I do if I want to adopt?
If you want to adopt, the very first step is to find out as much information you can about adoption. So, do some research. Research and get some information on adoption from places such as the BAAF's website, your local library, read books about adoption, and talk to people who have adopted. The best way of finding out about adoption is just to talk to people who have been through the process, and then go and talk to an adoption agency; maybe your local authority and find out some more information.
How long does the adoption process take?
It's useful to think about it in two stages. The first stage is the approval stage. That's approving you to be an adopter and that would take at least six months, sometimes longer. The second stage is actually matching you with a child, and that may be a matter of weeks or it may take a matter of months or it may take longer, depending on what sort of child or children you're willing to adopt.
Do you have to pay to adopt a child?
No, not at all. If you're adopting a child in the UK, then there are no charges that would be paid. If however, you were adopting a child from overseas, then there would be charges. You would have to pay for the assessment that is made of you, and you may also have to pay a number of additional fees that are required by the country of origin of the child.
What is BAAF?
BAAF has existed for over 25 years. We're the British Association for Adoption and Fostering. We provide lots of publications, we provide lots of training, we provide lots of information and advice about adoption and fostering, we lobby the government for beneficial changes for children in the care system, and we get involved with changing the law with issuing guidance for setting standards. We also do lots of press and publicity work.
