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Adoption

Here are some suggested organisations that offer expert advice on adoption.

Original poster

AUK forums?

10 replies

ParticlesDisbanded · 14/09/2023 14:44

DP and I have our first adoption information session this evening, and I've been trying to read as much as possible about people's experiences – the MN adoption board has been so useful and offered a lot of insights. I recently joined Adoption UK with the intention of reading their forums, but can't seem to find any that are particularly active. Is there anywhere else similar to the MN adoption board in terms of an active and supportive community? Thank you!

OP posts:
Original poster
ParticlesDisbanded · 14/09/2023 16:27

Just to add that the active Adoption UK forums might be there - I haven't had. a chance to fully explore the site yet!

OP posts:
tonyhawks23 · 14/09/2023 16:33

I think the forum isn't that active but the zoom meet ups are really helpful and also the local community ones in real life through AUK are really good.

UnderTheNameOfSanders · 15/09/2023 09:10

The AUK forums were great 15-20 years ago.
Then they 'improved' them, made then un-useable and lost a large number of users. An ex-AUK set of boards was set up somewhere but I'm not sure what happened to it.
It was such a shame, it was a valuable asset. I have no idea what they were thinking.

(The 'improvement' was trailered as a back end one, but when it came it was wholescale and unwanted.)

Original poster
ParticlesDisbanded · 15/09/2023 15:36

@tonyhawks23 @UnderTheNameOfSanders ah okay - that makes sense! That's a shame that they aren't as active as the MN board has been such a great source of information and support!

OP posts:
MrsMatty · 15/09/2023 22:27

@UnderTheNameOfSanders Whoever was responsible for the changes to the AUK forum was clearly clueless. I agree totally, it was such a good resource and a wonderfully supportive community. I think a lot of old AUK posters came here, but many just vanished. What a shame.

UnderTheNameOfSanders · 16/09/2023 07:15

MrsMatty · 15/09/2023 22:27

@UnderTheNameOfSanders Whoever was responsible for the changes to the AUK forum was clearly clueless. I agree totally, it was such a good resource and a wonderfully supportive community. I think a lot of old AUK posters came here, but many just vanished. What a shame.

Yes. What was so frustrating was they kept saying all along it was an internal engine change or something, no hint whatsoever they were going to change the user interface. And the user interface changes weren't tweaks they were wholescale (and blue bubbles) with no consultation. There was so much knowledge from posters and a very large supportive community.

MN has it right, tweaking things gently.

Maggiejane12345 · 16/09/2023 08:03

The Adoption community is incredibly active on FB. There are various private groups there.

There are other internet forums online which include Adopters.

onlytherain · 16/09/2023 17:16

The AUK forum has a searchable archive. A lot of the information in there is still relevant. If you post questions in the current forum, you do get answers from seasoned adopters. So in that respect it is still helpful.

Like others have said, AUK has managed to completely alienate their users by never involving them in the development of the forum. AUK also seem to have zero understanding of who their users are, their wants and needs.

Ted27 · 17/09/2023 10:12

Ahh the old AUK forums, I do miss them.

A lot of people drifted off to FB pages, I’m with 20 or so other single adopters on a group.
Part of the problem I think is that the ‘old hands’ drifted off, partly because of the mess the forum became, and because children were getting older, moving into adulthood so there was less need or they were looking for more specialised support.
Without the experienced adopters, there was no one to support new adopters so they could become the new old hands - if you see what I mean.
I hung around for a long time, as did Donatella and to be honest more than once we were told by prospective adopters that our views were not welcome and not to post on their threads.

Onelifeonly · 17/09/2023 10:16

UnderTheNameOfSanders · 15/09/2023 09:10

The AUK forums were great 15-20 years ago.
Then they 'improved' them, made then un-useable and lost a large number of users. An ex-AUK set of boards was set up somewhere but I'm not sure what happened to it.
It was such a shame, it was a valuable asset. I have no idea what they were thinking.

(The 'improvement' was trailered as a back end one, but when it came it was wholescale and unwanted.)

Totally agree! That forum was a major part of my life back in the day. I used to follow the alternate site but eventually lost the link. It was ok at first but fizzled a lot as no one new joined it as no one knew about it other than the original members.

OP try Facebook groups. There are a few different ones. I think you'll get more info on them than from MN.

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