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Original poster

Panel - approved!

17 replies

GlosChops · 31/01/2023 16:14

We had panel this morning and have been approved.
I've been lurking here for a while and just wanted to thank you all as reading your posts over the last few months has been hugely helpful and now we're ready to move towards matching (it's actually REAL now!) I'd like to be a more active part of this great community.

So, um, hi! 😁

OP posts:
Ted27 · 31/01/2023 16:47

Hello @GlosChops
Congratulations, the fun really starts now!

Original poster
GlosChops · 31/01/2023 16:53

Haha! I've literally just texted an adoptive parent friend that exact same comment 😜
So far, everything has been rather abstract and theoretical. Today definitely feels like "this is real now" and I am having genuine feelings of excitement - which have been a bit rare during Stage 1 and 2 if I'm honest!

OP posts:
tonyhawks23 · 31/01/2023 16:54

Congratulations!

Remy7 · 31/01/2023 19:12

Congratulations, the rollercoaster continues. What an adventure :)

claireb7rg · 31/01/2023 20:38

Congratulations!!

Jellycatspyjamas · 01/02/2023 08:04

What lovely news, congratulations - I hope your wait for matching isn’t too long and that you find lots of support here.

Kindee · 01/02/2023 10:40

Congratulations! It is a wonderful feeling to finally be approved. Best of luck with matching, I hope it is a quick and smooth process for you :-)

Luluha · 01/02/2023 12:27

Congratulations! How exciting!

121Sarah121 · 01/02/2023 12:37

That’s wonderful news. With each stage, it becomes more and more real. Hopefully you are bringing your children or son or daughter home soon.

FullHeartEmptyPocket · 01/02/2023 13:58

Congratulations! It's such an exciting day.
Matching may (or may not) take a while but it's totally worth it in the end.

Chocapple · 01/02/2023 18:31

Congratulations on being Approved !!

You are one step closer to welcoming home a child/children.

You will have seen that here we show the reality of Adoption. The good, bad and inbetween.

Adoption is very hard, but has been the best thing I've ever done.

Ask away here and at any time. Xx

Original poster
GlosChops · 01/02/2023 21:58

Thank you all for your congrats and welcome!

I love that here you share the reality - warts and all, and non-judgemental and supportive of one another. It's so generous the way you share your personal experiences - hand on heart, it's this place (plus my partner and a few very good true friends) who have given me the confidence to keep going when at times "the fear" has almost got the better of me.

We're hoping for a sibling pair (2-6 ish) and have just been on a sibling training session online tonight organised through our agency. Saw a few people from our Stage 2 training again which was nice!

We are very realistic about how long matching might take and secretly I don't want it to happen too quickly as I need a bit of time to mentally process and prepare I think. I leave my job at the end of next week and then I can really throw myself into some house clearing and practical prep too! 😅

OP posts:
claireb7rg · 03/02/2023 06:27

GlosChops · 01/02/2023 21:58

Thank you all for your congrats and welcome!

I love that here you share the reality - warts and all, and non-judgemental and supportive of one another. It's so generous the way you share your personal experiences - hand on heart, it's this place (plus my partner and a few very good true friends) who have given me the confidence to keep going when at times "the fear" has almost got the better of me.

We're hoping for a sibling pair (2-6 ish) and have just been on a sibling training session online tonight organised through our agency. Saw a few people from our Stage 2 training again which was nice!

We are very realistic about how long matching might take and secretly I don't want it to happen too quickly as I need a bit of time to mentally process and prepare I think. I leave my job at the end of next week and then I can really throw myself into some house clearing and practical prep too! 😅

We wanted a sibling pair between ages 2-5 and we were linked with ours a month after approval panel....
They've been home for 13 months now

Jellycatspyjamas · 03/02/2023 12:37

My two were 4 and 6 when placed, fabulous kids and fabulous ages - not without its challenges but we’re a very happy family.

Original poster
GlosChops · 03/02/2023 18:40

Oh fabulous to know there are plenty of people here to share their sibling stories!! How has the first year been @claireb7rg? An adoptive parent colleague has told me to stay in touch as "the first year is just NUTS" 😆

Our agency (RAA) have informed us that there are actually quite a few siblings waiting to find families at the moment, so we'll see. Just going to pace ourselves a bit I think, if we can!?

Were both of yours in school soon after placement then @Jellycatspyjamas ? Even though we have no idea about ages yet I am thinking of approaching a nearby school (who have invested in trauma informed training for their staff with their pupil premium this year) for a visit...not sure if it's too soon, but want to be well informed!

Cheers for the lovely welcome everyone!

OP posts:
Jellycatspyjamas · 03/02/2023 18:49

Mine were in school and nursery (I’m in Scotland so my youngest didn’t go to school til he was 5). They were placed in August and the plan was that they stayed home until the October holidays but ended up going after the September weekend (end of September so they were home for 6 weeks). In the end our social worker suggested they start sooner because they needed the routine, and I needed a break from the intensity of early placement.

If you have a school in mind it won’t hurt to start speaking to the HT. I canvassed a few schools pre-placement - one HT contacted me almost immediately saying she’d be delighted to have them, could explain which class my DD would go in and why (her P2 teacher was also a Speech and Language Therapist) and explained the schools approach to trauma. It turns out she had recognised my name from our adoption prep group, she was coming back from her own adoption leave. The school have been fantastic with my kids and it’s been a good decision all round.

Youll get a good sense of the school by watching how staff interact with pupils and how they speak about them, so do have a look - if it doesn’t feel ok you’ll still have time to look elsewhere without too much pressure.

claireb7rg · 03/02/2023 19:09

GlosChops · 03/02/2023 18:40

Oh fabulous to know there are plenty of people here to share their sibling stories!! How has the first year been @claireb7rg? An adoptive parent colleague has told me to stay in touch as "the first year is just NUTS" 😆

Our agency (RAA) have informed us that there are actually quite a few siblings waiting to find families at the moment, so we'll see. Just going to pace ourselves a bit I think, if we can!?

Were both of yours in school soon after placement then @Jellycatspyjamas ? Even though we have no idea about ages yet I am thinking of approaching a nearby school (who have invested in trauma informed training for their staff with their pupil premium this year) for a visit...not sure if it's too soon, but want to be well informed!

Cheers for the lovely welcome everyone!

I'm not going to lie... Its been hard, very hard! Especially months 2-4, we even talked to our sw about giving them back at one point. They were 6 and 2 when they moved in, youngest had been in comparison a breeze till this last month. Majority of our issues have been with eldest.
They're both doing well at school and nursery although we have suspicions about dyslexia with her and have come on leaps and bounds since moving in.

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