Please can I get some information...where to start?

[MummikinsOopNorth]

I can't believe I am about to do this, but we have been thinking about adopting a UK or overseas child for a good year or so now. I would love some information about where to start and everything if anyone can help.

First of all, would we apply through an agency or is there a government organisation to apply?

How much has it roughly cost you from start to finish?

How long was it from first applying to welcoming the child into your family?

Do the birth parents ever get any chance to trace their children at all?

Thanks all for you help in advance :)

Hi!

You can apply through either a voluntary agency or your Local Authority, and depending on where you live maybe the neighbouring Local Authorities. There's pros and cons to each.

It doesn't cost anything unless you go international, in which case you will be charged a few thousand for homestudy. There are court costs at finalization but the agency/authority should pay for you. Then you get to sit back and watch the large child shaped hole in your bank account grow...and grow!!

Very different with different people. This depends on several things. Personally, 1 and a half years.
But it depends. What age, gender and number of children are you hoping to adopt? Are you willing to consider certain disabilities. How much can you handle? All very important. If you are approved for a older child, say 7-10, boy or girl, you may get an overwhelming amount of interest. For a girl aged 0-18 months, you may wait years.

Most children have a form of ongoing contact with their birth families all their childhood, some don't. It may be by letterbox, a system whereby you write to the birth parents/ siblings/ GP's and if you are lucky they write back. Many don't return letters, some are too disorganised, for others it is too painful.
Some children have direct contact, by phone or usually a meeting once or maybe twice a year with their BP's/GP's. They may have more meetings with brothers and sisters.

At adulthood yes, either your child could trace, or their birth family can trace them.

Feel free to post more questions, this is very basic info, I'm happy to help.

Afraid I don't know a lot about other countries, only that the current wait for China is like 7 years!!

unless you go international, in which case you "will be charged a few thousand for homestudy" - and the rest! Most home studies these days cost around £5000 plus costs of travel (possibly several trips), paying a translator, having dossier translated, foreign court costs, legal respresentation in another country. Having your dossier notarised and apostileld in the UK can add abnother £2,000. Additionally DCFS is now entitled to charge (proposal around £1000 from memory) and local council can charge for post-placement reports to home country around £250 - we have to do 15!

You'd be lucky to change out of £25,000 these days and only a small amount of it unfortunately goes to the orphange - mostly to government bodies in UK or other country.

Suggest the OP looks on the "Adoption UK" websites, where there is a wealth of information. The obvious thing though is to go the LA and ask to speak to an adoption worker who will give your all the inforamtion and leaflets to read etc etc. and tell you about the process for making application. You are not committing yourself to anything, merely getting the preliminary information that you need.

Just a word about going to voluntary agencies (like Barnardoes, Action for Children etc). They are more likely to respond quickly, get you on a training course and complete your assessment. This is because they then "sell" the people that they have recruited and approved to the LA as the voluntary agencies don't have children to place themselves.

The problem is though that LAs will always try to place children with the adoptors who they have recruited and approved because it is much cheaper. The voluntaries charge LAs a very high rate to "sell" them a family. If LAs can't place a child they will then look for an inter-agency placement (that means looking for adoptors who have been approved by another LA) This is the 2nd cheapest option to "inhouse" adoptors. SO, using families recruited by voluntary organisations is the least favoured option because of the cost. In fact I think LAs just cannot afford to pay the fees that the voluntaries want in these cash strapped times and the voluntaries are very worried that they cannot keep going.

SO - I would strongly advise you to make your application to the LA.

And you don;t need to your LA any which will take you on is fine.