Babies

We fully understand that for some people, the only way that they can be first time parents or have a child within a new relationship, is via adoption. For many people in this situation, their preference is to adopt a baby.

Occasionally some birth parents will ask us to place their baby for adoption. However, most of our babies move into adoptive families following court proceedings.  They are likely to be at least 6 months old - and often older - before they can be placed with adopters.

Also, some babies will have suffered withdrawal from drugs taken by their mothers during pregnancy, or have suffered some form abuse - and all will face a measure of emotional distress associated with being separated firstly from their birth mothers and then from their foster carers.

Direct Placement Scheme

We are currently recruiting for direct placement carers. The new scheme has been developed to minimise disruption for the child. It would mean that babies are placed directly with carers who are approved to foster with a view to adopting. The aim of the scheme is to remove the need for a baby to move from a foster home to an adoptive family following court proceedings by having carers who are ‘dually approved’ for a period of time.

Carers would be selected, trained and assessed specifically for the scheme and initially we will select a small number of carers for the pilot project.

If you think you might be interested please phone Jo Poole on 01522 554193 for an initial discussion.

All children have full medicals before moving to adoptive families, and whilst we will inform adopters of any relevant information, there will always be a measure of uncertainty.

Some adopters are surprised that we also ask all adopters, even when adopting very young children, to keep birth parents or other family members informed by letter of the child’s progress, at least once a year. The child may also have siblings living elsewhere and we will ask in these cases that adopters keep in touch with the siblings and their families, which will often include meeting up during the year.

We encourage all adopters to read as much information about adoption as possible before deciding to apply to adopt. We can also put applicants in touch with adopters for a first hand view of what it is like to be an adoptive parent!