preparation advice

[Lollipop86]

my husband and I (plus we have a young son) are looking to start our application for adoption in the new year. we're comparing agencies at the moment and trying to choose one. Is there anything else we can be doing now to put ourselves in the best position for applying?

thanks in advance xxx

I would just apply. It's not like applying for a job where you get sifted out at the stage of sending in a CV.

There will be obstacles, but the process is fairly long, and you can work on changing things as you go.

Why not make contact now and get the ball rolling - what's stopping you :)

Thanks both 😊 I had a miscarriage in the summer and read that it was recommended to wait 6 months before applying. do you think this is old advice? I do feel ready to start now and know this is definitely a better route for us than ivf etc. Id love to start now but thought id be turned away x

I think some LAs won't start the process if you've had a miscarriage within 6 months, but I don't think thats all agencies and LAs.

To be honest, by starting the process I mean beginning stage 1, and for me and my partner it took from going to a meeting in July all the way to October to beginning the stage 1 process - so I don't see any harm in attending the information evenings.

Personally I would go to information evenings before deciding on an agency. You might find you think one agency is amazing and one is not!

Good luck!

I agree, don’t decide on an agency yet. Contact all the ones that cover your area , go along to groups or meetings, ask questions and meet their staff. It takes a LOT LONGER than you think

You don’t have to chose one agency until you start stage one.

Agree with others, star exploration now.

I'd really be finding out what post adoption support is available with each agency/authority.

Good luck.

Thank you everyone!

Hi @Lollipop86

I know this is from a couple of weeks ago but I just wanted to chip in with a bit of our story.

We are a same sex couple and have spoken about adoption for a couple of years before starting the process. We both sat and looked through all of the agencies near us, that was one of the first things to shock us. We had 6 to choose from, so we both looked through them on our own then we were gonna have a discussion about each one, in the end we had both picked the same one. After that we requested some info and they got in touch with us a couple of weeks later. To be honest I sort of felt that the assessment started from that phone call, then the social worker popped out to our house and we had a chat about it all.

That was in May this year and I'm really happy to say that we got approved, matched and met our LO this week.

It's an intense process but your social worker will be so supportive

@adoptdad it's so helpful to hear your story thank you! How briLlantwit to be matched so soon, do keep us posted on how you get on 😊

We have our information session on 10th Dec to get the ball rolling. The social workers at the LA we've chosen seem so nice and welcoming on the phone, definitely have a gut feeling they're the right one for us!