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England Adoption Laws

England Adoption Laws

Within this Thread Discussion can be had about the process of adopting a child in this country. Some questions that can be answered:

1. Who is allowed to adopt a child in this country? Citizen / Resident / Foreigner
2. What must you show as proof of your ability to adopt a child?
3. What is the chance of a typical couple being able to adopt a child within this country?
4. Are follow-up visits mandatory?
5. Are there special fees that have to be paid?
6. Are you allowed to choose the age, gender and ethnicity of the child for adoption?

Laws Adoption England

1. Who is allowed to adopt a child in this country?

Uk citizens, I think up to the age of 50, is the general ruling, but some areas are more flexible/stricter than other areas.
Single parents may also adopt if they meet all guidelines set out for them.
It has also been known for gay couples to adopt, but the assessment would be very stringent due to the lifestyle that is led within the household. As the assessment is very thorough/intrusive, I feel this may put more people off applying.

2. What must you show as proof of your ability to adopt a child?

Very thorough/intrusive checks are made, this involves social worker assessments, visits to your friends and family, checks into your financial situation, checks from your Doctor to your ability, checks whether there have been any connection in the past to you and social services, health service checks, school reports (if you already have children in school) , checks on your religious status, the visits can last anything to a few hours at a time to a full day at a time and roughly last between 3-6 months. (We ended up providing lunch and dinner a few times as some of the reports/checks whilst visiting lasted 8 hours!
You also have to have a clean police record, and have to even be asked whether you have been caught speed driving!

3.What is the chance of a typical couple being able to adopt in this country?

The chances are quite good providing you can fulfil all the assessments and rulings set out for you, that you have no mental disabilities or illness, that you are doing it for the right reasons, that you have no ulterior motives, that you have never been in trouble with the police, and that both the husband and wife are both of the same opinion in wanting to adopt.

4. Are follow-up visits mandatory?

Usually these are mandatory for a minium of 1 year, to satisfy the social workers that everything is as it should be. Even after you are granted court parental responsibility, the social workers have to put the final recommendation in for the final hearing which is normally a minimum of 6 months after you are given permission by the judge to adopt the child/children.
Usually, if all seems well after 12 months, the social services will withdraw, and visits will only usually be made at your request.

5.Are there special fees that have to be paid?

Not normally within state adoption, this is free.
I think there are fees to be paid to your local social services for the assessment they have to do if you plan to adopt from out of the country. I don't know the cost for each inter-national adoption, but I know to adopt from china costs between
£10-15,000 ($20-30,000)

6. Are you allowed to choose the age, gender and ethnicity of the child for adoption?

In a way, kind of, but you couldn't for example say "We want a 6 year old girl, British white". You would have to apply for the age range on offer, and the say you are more hoping for a child in this age between x and x
For example, the first age range isn't babies, it is 0-5 year olds, so if you were hoping for a baby, you could suggest you were looking for "an under 2 year old", but nothing more specific than this. If for example you had 5 boys of your own and were looking to adopt a girl, your chances of getting a girl would be pretty high, as it would be pretty senseless in reality to hand you another boy!
As for ethnicity, you have to go through a 'matching panel' as part of the adoption process where a panel of people decide whether you are matched in not only personality, but also looks, so ethnicity matching plays a very important role.
Normally you will only be 'matched' to a child if you have the same cultural background.
I know for example foster carers who have been turned down from adopting an asian child because they are white, even though there are no asian adopters out there for this child, so the child is allowed to be 'long term fostered' within the white family until the age of 18, but can never be officially made part of the family- to me this is very, very sad, especially when no other option is out there for this child to get a permanent family of their own.

In between all the checks, visits and assessments, you will also be expected to go in front of a panel of 12 people, made up from general public, court workers, social workers for them to deem whether they feel that you fill all the criteria. It's certainly not made easy for you to adopt in this country!

The chances are quite good, providing you can fulfill all the requirements set out for you. Some areas are more flexible to apply to than others, and

England Adoption Laws Reviews Consumer & Travel Family Culture

Adoption matches 'too stringent'

Some councils are too stringent in finding matches for black and ethnic minority children up for adoption, charities say.
Ref. https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7466949.stm

Laws Adoption England

Councils have been accused of being too stringent for many years now, and in theory 'matching' children to their ethnic roots would be great, but sadly in practice in England nationwide there is a severe shortage of Asian and black adopters coming forward-even though due to the shortage there would be more leniency in adopting than there would be for white adopters as there is no shortage of white adopters for young babies (only for older children do they struggle- but this is the same for all ethnicities)

This leaves a very sad situation for many children facing life in childrens homes rather than the authorities being more relaxed in their matching processes.

I hope one day that this will be improved.

Laws Adoption England

Name: Jennifer

Comments: What if I know of a boy who needs a home soon and is from England and I am from the United States. How could I go about adopting that certain boy?

England Adoption Laws

I joined this site to see if anyone could guide me to any legislation pertaining to adoption. This is because my partners child was taken from her when she was younger, and adopted by another couple. She has had regular letterbox contact, until the adopting couple seperated, and her child was then put into foster care. Now the child in question is living with the adoptees sister and her partner, and my partner and I were wondering if there was something that could help us try to get him back.

Thanks for your help guys.

England Adoption Laws

Name: Joan
Country:

Comments: I was reading some of this and I was kind of hoping for some answers to this too. Where are the official adoption laws for England located?

England Adoption Laws Culture Family Travel & Consumer Reviews

Hi madnasher, As far as I am aware, concerning the UK adoption laws, the child in question has been adopted, and as such all legal parental rights for the birth parents are terminated by the courts, and new legal rights are given to the adoptee parents. As I understand it, even though the adoptive parents have split up, social services have every right in placing the child with next of kin within the adoptive family. This would probably be as a foster placement whilst assessments are done on the relatives. I'm sorry to disappoint, but I really don't think your partner has any legal rights to pursue or have claim on the child.

Hi Joan, not too sure where you need to go for this information, but have an idea that you'll find it on one of the government websites regarding adoption in the Uk, or contact your social services if unsure.

Best wishes, Diane.