Honest feedback on how Fostering affects your life

[Cambam2010]

Please can you give me a no-frills answer as to how fostering affects your life - both the positives and the negatives?

I have worked in an office for the past 10 years, my role will become redundant next summer. I really do not want to go in to another office role and would like something completely different to do.

I am 40, privately rent, live with my partner of 5 years and have a 9 year old son.

I am considering whether I would be suitable to be a foster carer and the impact that this would have on our lives. It is something that I have thought about for a few years and the redundancy is forcing my hand to make future decisions so I would really appreciate any comments that you could offer as to how you have found fostering.

So pleased you are giving it serious thought and not just jumping into it. We have fostered for almost 5 years and it's the hardest job in the world to do .... yet the easiest for others to give an opinion on. As someone has said, it needs to be a 'calling' and not just because you need another job. My children have all left home and I would never have contemplated it whilst they were here. I just couldn't put another child before my own if they all lived together. And I'm afraid that's exactly what some carers need to do at times. It's hard enough saying I can't help my own kids with babysitting etc as I have meetings etc to attend for the foster kids but I do try to work round most things to keep everyone happy. All in all, if you're very careful with matching and your child isn't a jealous type then it "may" just be amazing ... I can, hand on heart, say I absolutely love it 

I was a supervising social worker and the threshold is better than average parents. Birth families are assessed on a good enough parenting threshold. So, the standards are a really good parent role; exposing them to new things, teaching life skills, strong advocacy skills to fight for their rights etc. The foster carers I supervised did an amazing job and I was in constant awe of their determination and resilience. It takes a very special kind of person to be a good Foster Carer and I always thought they were unsung hero’s.