Adoption

Adoption is a way of providing a new family for a child or young person when living with their own family is not possible. It is the means of giving a young person an opportunity to start again. For many young people, adoption may be their only chance of experiencing family life.

To be eligible for adoption the young person must be under the age of 18 years and for whom returning home to their birth parents is not possible. The young person cannot be adopted if they are, or have been, married.

An Adoption Order severs all legal ties with the birth family and gives parental rights and responsibilities to the new adoptive family. The birth parents no longer have any legal rights over the child and they are not entitled to claim the child back. The child becomes a full member of the new family; takes the family's surname and assumes the same rights and privileges as if he had been born to the new family.

Adoption is not an option of last resort, it provides an important service for children, offering a positive and beneficial outcome. Research shows that generally adopted children make very good progress through their childhood and into adulthood when compared with children brought up by their own parents and do considerably better than children who have remained in the care system throughout most of their childhood.

Fostering

Fostering is about an adult caring for a child or young person in their own home. For a whole variety of reasons there are around 39,000 children (in England) who are placed with foster carers by social services departments. Many of these children will eventually return to their families. In some cases this may take a matter of days or weeks in others it may take much longer.

If a return to their families is not possible a decision may be made to find them a permanent new family, possible through adoption.

In the vast majority of cases children in foster care will have regular contact with their families and their parents will continue to have responsibilities towards them throughout the time they are in foster care.

If you are adopted and want to locate your birth parents, have a look at some of the sites at the bottom of this page.

If you are adopted or fostered and would like counselling have a look on the Norcap website also at the bottom of this page.

You can also speak confidentially to one of Connexions personal advisers, by phoning our free phone number: 0800 435 709