Being Matched With A Child
What happens once I have been approved as a prospective parent?
Well once you've been approved as a prospective parent, then the really exciting bit begins because then you start the process of being matched with a child and that can happen in very many different ways. You may, for example, see a child in a family finding newspaper or through a family finding online service that you want to express an interest in adopting. There may be children locally who are available for adoption, you may find a child through the adoption register for England and Wales.
Do I need to adopt a child in my local area?
No you don't. What's likely to happen is that if you've been approved in one area, and then the agency would certainly want to consider your suitability to adopt children who are available locally, but if a match can't be made through that route, then of course the search goes further a field. That's where things such as the National Adoption Register for England and Wales is really helpful; because that is a computerized register of all of the children waiting for adoption in England and Wales, and who've been waiting for more than three months.
How is a child matched with a parent?
The matching process of a child with a parent is looking at how good a fit what you're offering is with what the child needs. It's all about matching you and your capacities as an adopter with the type of adoptive parent that the child needs, so that means matching your willingness, for example, to adopt a child with disabilities; matching your ethnic background with the child's ethnic background; matching other factors which have proved to be very important in the assessment process. It's all about trying to get the best possible match.
Will the child move into my home immediately?
No, not immediately. There is an introduction process that again is really important, because what you want to do is make the child feel as comfortable as possible with the fact that you're going to be their new parents, and it's going to be your new home. For example, for a tiny baby there may be a series of introduction sessions, perhaps every afternoon for a week. With an older child the introductions may be spaced out over a period of time. I'd be surprised if the introductions took longer than 6 to 8 weeks as a maximum.
How do I find out more about the child?
When you are going to be matched with a child, if you've expressed interest in a particular child - however you've found out about that child, whether through the national adoption register or in a family finding newspaper - if the social worker for the child wants to pursue the match, then you will need lots of information about the child. This is not just the initial profile you might have read, and they will give you a copy of what's called the childs permanence report, which is a detailed report about the child, about their background, about their needs, and that will give you lots of information about the child. It may then be supplemented with additional information, perhaps detailed health information. Detailed information probably about other special needs of the child. We know from practice experience what's really important is for adoptors to go into adoption knowing as much as possible about the child, so there aren't surprises further down the line.
Will I meet the birth family?
You may meet the birth family. Yes, it may be a one-off meeting. We talk about contacts and essentially contacts in adoption will be the arrangements for the child meeting with members of their birth family. It may be birth parents, it may be grandparents, it may be brothers and sisters, or it may be aunts and uncles, maybe any significant adult in the child's life. It's unlikely that the contact with the birth parents would be anything more than either one of all very occasional. We also talk about letterbox contact, and that for example is where the child may receive a letter or a birthday card from a birth parent perhaps once a year. The contact needs to be decided very much on a case-by-case basis. For some children it would be inappropriate for them to have any contact at all with their birth family for the children in order to help them really settle into their new place which would be really important for them to have contact. And of course where the children concern have siblings, it may be exceptionally important to maintain that contact because that may be really important for the child's sense of continuity and stability.
How is an adoption made official?
Adoption is actually a legal order of the court. So once a child has been placed with you for adoption, after a minimum of ten weeks you can actually apply to the court for a legal order - an adoption order - which would mean that the child then is legally a member of your family.
