A person can apply for adoption in the UK when they are 21 years old or over. The final decision is made by a senior member of the agency. Within five days of the decision you will be given written confirmation. It can take up to eight months to get assessed and approved.
It is at this stage that you will also be offered counselling to make sure you make the right decision. Counselling helps a person to decide if this is the right thing for them and is an important part of the process. If the decision is made to carry on then an application form will need to be completed.
Introductions happen throughout a number of meetings. Once the child is living with their adoptive parents, social workers review and monitor everything to check how things are going until the order is confirmed. The court will not form an order until a child has lived with their adoptive parents for a minimum of 13 weeks.
At the end of the process, a social worker will complete your report for prospective adoptee. You will be given the report to read and sign which you then keep a copy of. The report then gets passed to the agency’s panel for them to consider. The panel will need to decide if the applicants are going to be good parents, if the children are suitable and what kinds of children are appropriate for the parents.
Candidates have to pass through numerous tests like medical checks and criminal record checks. It is a complex process that is carried out to ensure that the right type of people are chosen for the right type of children. Even if you are single you can still apply to adopt children. In certain cases it might not be appropriate for people to adopt.
The contact level between birth parents can vary from no contact to letters through the agency. Letters can be sent once or twice a year. Contact is based on what is best for the child. All general costs of looking after a child will be expected.
Throughout Britain and Wales couples do not need to be married in order to apply for joint adoption. Couples that are in a civil relationship are also eligible to apply. In Scotland and Northern Ireland only one person of an unmarried partnership can apply. This might be set to change in the future.
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