Children Needing Adoption

Are there many babies that need adoption in the UK?

It's interesting, but many people think that they babies who need adoption in the UK; but that's wrong. Every year there are a lot of babies who come into our care system. Several hundred babies are adopted under the age of one every year. However, many of those children will have special needs, they may have developmental delay, but they won't necessarily be entirely healthy babies.

What is the usual age of children needing adoption?

The average age of children who are adopted in England is actually four years and one month, which will probably surprise many people who think that children are actually much younger.

Do siblings have to be placed together?

Siblings are often placed together, and we desperately need families who are willing to adopt sibling groups. We know from children in care how important it is for them to remain with their siblings. Often, it's the only continuity they know. On occasions it is necessary to split sibling groups up and that may be because of the individual needs of the children concerned.

Do many children needing adoption suffer from special needs or disabilities?

Certainly, there are a number of children who are awaiting adoption who have disabilities, and whose development may be in certain, who may need a very special care as they grow up. But, there are many children too who don't have any special needs.

Will older children tend to have a lot of problems?

It's important to remember that certainly two-thirds of the children who are in our care system are there as a result of abuse and neglect, so the children who are coming through for adoption from the care system may have had very difficult early lives, they may have experienced a great deal of chaos in their short lives and so they may have continuing needs. Some of them may have emotional and behavioral difficulties. Children vary - every child is different. Some children have proved remarkably resilient and will need less support, while other children will need a great deal of support.

Do I need specific skills to adopt a child with disabilities?

Well, you'd certainly need to think really carefully about your capacity to look after a child with disabilities, and you'd really need to have thought through what that might mean for you and your life. But really what adoption is about is trying to look at people's potential and what they can offer a child and then to think about what support they might need. But you wouldn't for example, need prior experience to parenting a disabled child, you'd just need to be really realistic about thinking through the issues and be open to receiving support if that's what you'd need.