How long did you wait?

[KLHL777]

My husband and I are are interested in fostering to adopt. We have been to an information evening and a SW is coming out for a first visit in the next few weeks.

I would be interested in hearing other adopters timelines, how long the whole process took, particularly if you went the foster to adopt route. How long from initial enquiry to placement of foster child? How long from placement of foster child until the adoption order?

Thanks!

A year for approval and another 18 months till placement. However as at the time we were approved there was a massive slowdown in placement orders being made so there was a huge surplus of adopters in the system at the time. My understand is this isn’t the case any more.

As it was our LO wasn’t placed into care until we’d already been approved for a year. We have applied for adoption order and are waiting for court date. Expect it will be about a year after placement that it all goes through.

Thanks stringandglitter. I know these things take time, but it sounds like it's been a long slog for you!

Yes it has been a long time but I wouldn’t change LO for anything.

In a way it was positive seeing lots of children’s profiles. We were said no to a lot and we also said no to some profiles. It helped me realise that We didn’t want just any child, we wanted the right child.

We had one competitive match after a year and we weren’t chosen. That was tough.

Then a few months later there was one profile we were seriously considered for and there wasn’t a good reason to say no, but it just didn’t feel right. So we said no. That was tough.

Then a few months after that we saw LO profile and knew this one was right for us. LO is s delight.

It took nine months to get approved. We waited seven months once approved have a child placed with our family. Seven months until it changed to an adoption placement. Our lo is now ten months old were still waiting for the adoption order. Adoption requires patience and lots of it. The only part that was quick was his placement with us after hearing about him. Got a phone call on a Monday telling me about him and I had to be ready to pick him up from the hospital by Friday.

I’m currently doing fta. From the beginning of my assessment to me bringing baby home from the hospital was 5 and a half months (I was fast tracked).
Good luck with whatever you decide

Didn't do F2A just straight up adoption. Our DS moved in a year to the day that first attended an information evening

Jan 17 - info evening
Mar 17 - initial visit
Apr 17 - started Stage 1
July 17 - started Stage 2
Oct 17 - approval panel (received our first potential link the day the ADM approved us - although we decided it wasn't the right child for us).
Nov 17 - phone call about DS, his SW visited us, met the Foster Carers, officially linked
Dec 17 - matching panel
Jan 18 - intros started 2 weeks after panel
Mar 18 - submitted application for Adoption Order
Apr 18 - received date for first hearing
May 18 - initial court hearing (next week - eeek!)

Much quicker than we were expecting!

A year for approval from initial meeting. Matched about 4 -5 months later. We came to live with us 3-4 months later. Whole thing 20 months.

Thanks for the replies! I had about 2 years in my head, so it's lovely to hear of it being shorter than that, generally. 5 months must have been a whirlwind flower!

18months
5 months
4 months
From assessment to bringing babies home

Our was 12 months from initial visit for DS moving in. We are recent adopters. In my LA, most people are currently being linked before they are approved, and matched shortly after so my timescale is actually slower than is typical now.

KLHL777 it was looking back but at the time it still seemed to drag... lol I have no patience!

I feel you flower! I'm impatient when I get excited about something. Just trying to spend this time getting as much info as possible. Really encouraged by people's timescales.

A couple on the same training course were matched 3 weeks after approval on a F2A placement and placed a couple of weeks later so it really does vary.

Did F2A. 3 months from ROI to formally starting stage 1 - six months to complete assessment, 2 months after panel LO moved in. AO took another 6 months.
Not uncommon with F2A is the child moving in very quickly as you don't have matching panel etc., and the whole point is to reduce the number of carers so they will go straight to you.....
So it was fairly quick - 8 months from starting stage 1 to bringing baby home. The hardest part was the uncertainty around F2A and the hearings - nothing could really prepare me for that....but it all worked out in the end!