Selection of people suitable to be adoptive parents (UK)?

Question

Can anyone tell me the basic criteria for becoming an adoptive parent in the UK? By which I mean, can anyone tell me if there are rules that mean you can't adopt if you have a health condition, do not own your own home or have a certain income?

Any links to helpful websites would also be good. Thanks.

Answer 1

Heather H's answer is spot on and the websites already mentioned are great as is

www.adoptionuk.org.uk

These sites, especially BAAF will give you loads of info and www.bemyparent.org.uk has a fun quiz to do to see if could be an adoptive parent.

My husband and I are currently going through the adoption process.  We live in rented accomodation and don't earn an awful lot.  There are much more important criteria than money - love and ability to care for a child being the main one.  I have also been on anti-depressants in the quite recent past but our social worker sees no problem in this.  Some local authorities give a loose age of no more than 45 years between the youngest adoptive parent and child, but I know of several cases where there is a 47 or 48 year age gap.  I don't think anything is set in stone.

One thing that won't be tolerated though is smoking.  Through information from other adopters and my local authority I know that children under five will not be placed with someone who smokes, even if you smoke very little and away from the child.

The best thing to do is to phone your local adoption team at your council offices.  Ask the questions you have asked here and they will be happy to help.

Good luck!

Answer 2

BAAF is a website (sorry I cant remember the address but if you type that in the search engine it will come up).  In fact if you type adoption into he search engine, loads come up.  We are wanting to adopt and are about to go to an information evening.  

O just remembered, Be My Parent.co.uk  and NCH.

You ahve to be at least 21.

You can be married, single, g*y.

You dont have to own your own home, you can rent.

Try and get to an information evening.  Also go to a few adoption agencies just to find out how each one works.  You can only choose one though and can only be assessed by one agency at a time.

Answer 3

http://www.baaf.org.uk/

I think the first answerer must be going on erroneous information, it certainly must have been handed down from people who don't meet the criteria in the UK an so go shopping for the perfect infant across the pond, where wheeling and dealing in babies is a free-enterprise and multi billion dollar business.   The leader of the Conservative Party and his wife recently brought home their American purchase (sorry, adoptee) because they failed to meet the criteria in the UK (too old -shock they'll be old enough to be drawing their pensions by the time the child comes of age but nobody cares about the child losing their parents too early in the States, they will take your $$$$$$$)

Anyway to answer your question:-

You have to be over 21, happy to make space in your life and home for a child, patient, flexible and energetic, and determined to make a real difference to a child’s life, for a lifetime.

Some people think about adoption but never look into it further – possibly because they are over 40 and think they’ll be ruled out. But they are wrong, there is no upper age limit. Agencies are looking for adopters who have the physical and mental energy to care for demanding children, and whose lifestyle suggests they will still have that energy when the child is a teenager, or young adult. Older children are among those children who wait the longest so adoption agencies are keen to hear from people who can give a permanent and loving home to an older child.

A record of offences will need to be carefully looked into but, apart from some offences against children, will not necessarily rule someone out.

Everyone has to have a medical examination and health issues will need to be explored.

People from all ethnic origins and religions can adopt. Ideally, a new family should meet all a child’s emotional, identity, health and development needs. In BAAF’s view, practice experience indicates that children do best when brought up in a family that reflects their ethnic and racial identity as closely as possible. In part, this is informed by reports from black and minority ethnic adopted adults who grew up with families who did not match their ethnic and racial identity, describing difficulties in belonging to any community outside of their immediate family. What this means in practice is that vigorous efforts are made to find a family that reflects the child’s individual identity. Given the profile of prospective adopters, this is not always achievable. In these instances, social workers will have to make a decision about when to consider alternative families in order to minimise delay for the child. Children would then be placed with families that best match most of their needs, even if this means they are of a different ethnic group.

Disabled people are not excluded and sometimes experience of disability will be positively welcomed.

A single person, or one partner in an unmarried couple - heterosexual, L*****n or g*y - can adopt. Since 30 December 2005 unmarried couples in England and Wales can apply to adopt jointly.

In the UK adoption is a social service for the children, private adoption for money (a la USA) is illegal and, yes, there are criteria to meet for good reason.  But I think you need to get the facts from the horses mouth - so to speak, rather than from here!

Try your local authority's children and families department who will have all the answers for you

Answer 4

I have worked with several adoptive parents from the UK, and in the past few years, it has become increasingly difficult to adopt with anything but perfect health, mentally, emotionally or physically.  Try your best to join an adoptive parent support group to get the specific details.  Good luck.

Answer 5

This site is really helpful and will answer most of your questions for you.

http://www.adoption-net.co.uk/

I adopted twin girls 22 years ago and I am not in perfect health but times have changed. So I don't know if you would be able to now. Your best option is to contact your local social services and they will be able to tell you all you need to know.

Answer 6

ask adoption agences + social services..you can be single + adopt...you dont have to own your own home..talk to the professionals first..

www.adoption.org.uk

god bless