Adoption

We do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, ethnic origin, class, culture, sexuality or disability.

• You must be over 21 years old to adopt, although we have no upper age limit it is expected that you should be healthy enough to parent a child through to adulthood
• Single people, male or female.
• Applicants can be married, or unmarried of any sexuality.
• Applicants can be home owners or live in rented accommodation
• Applicants can be childless, have children still living at home or have adult children who have left home.
• Applicants may be employed or unemployed.

If you have been convicted of a crime, this does not necessarily mean you cannot adopt, though it depends on the nature of the offence. You must declare convictions and cautions and agree for checks to be carried out. Checks will need to be done on all household residents over 16 years old. We can not approve anyone with convictions or cautions for sexual or domestic violence or convictions against children, in line with government guidelines.

We also may ask to speak to former partners from significant relationships (to establish if there are any concerns relating to violence or potential risk, we will not enquire into the reasons for the ending of the relationship). We may also ask to speak to employers, and where you have your own children (including those who have grown up) we will also speak to them too.

All applicants must undergo a medical examination to assess their physical and mental health. This is important as many of the children have experienced significant losses in their lives already.