Moving house during assesssment

[Poppet33]

Hello all,

We are in Stage 1 of the adoption process and have started worrying about our house. It's a two bed terrace with very open plan living downstairs, on a busy road and with a good sized garden but that can't be made secure. Our SW said that it would be fine with a few modifications, but we would ideally like to have a more family friendly home if possible. Options are:

1. Try and move now during the adoption process and delay Stage 2 by a few months. It would clear out our savings and mean we are a lot more stretched with the mortgage, but we could manage it.

1. Stay where we are until we are matched, and then look to move after a year or so. But would this be far too much for an adopted child to handle?

Does anyone have any experience of this? Any advice would be welcome!

Thank you.

I would move now tbh, so long as you can still afford for the primary carer to take a year off work.

I moved with my adopted daughter two years post placement.
She coped ok but it still was a tricky time for her.

What sunflower said

LOL at " unanticipated change of duvet "

So true .

Oh gosh, the thought of moving house with a LO doesn't bare thinking about.
We have a very resilient LO and I think even he would struggle and I hardly have time to have shower at the moment 10 months in let alone pack up a house and flit.
I know it's awful to have to wait longer and you just want to be a mum but you won't regret waiting.
We built a house during assessment and our LA put us on hold for 5 months I obviously don't know about your agency but might be worth running it past them.

Thank you for the comments - it has been a big help. I think we are going to put the house on the market and see what happens. At least we can stay where we are if it falls through but if we manage to move it will be better for our new arrival(s) - assuming we are approved!

Poppet I was just coming on to say move!

I always feel once you have decided you will do it, better to do it now! If you can afford it. All the effort you put into digging the garden or painting and getting little ones room nice would not go with you! Good luck.

We looked into moving after approval (a very nice house on the same street came up for sale). Our SW said we wouldn't have to go back to panel, just submit an amendment (or some such). We decided the house wasn't for us in the end.

I moved 6 years after placement. That was bad enough!

I'm just echoing what others have said. We moved twice last year as bought a do up and moved into rented for 7 months. My 7 year old daughter isn't adopted and she has no attachment issues (in that I breast fed, co-slept, stayed at home until she started school) but she really struggled with moving the second time and it was upsetting for all of us. Even her teacher mentioned it. I think moving before would be a much better idea. Plus moving is really stressful for you and you need to keep your emotional energy for the new member of your family.