Can you adopt if you have your own children?
Yes. However, there should normally be a minimum gap of two years between the adoptive child and your own child or children. This is because children can find it difficult if they are too close in age.
Do you need childcare experience?
Yes. It will be very helpful if you have experience of caring for, or contact with, children of different ages. You may already have considerable experience, of course, if you have children, stepchildren, nieces and nephews, and have contact with children of friends, but we would also expect and encourage you to gain some experience of involvement with children not known to you (for example, helping out at pre-school groups, nursery, helping children read at school, cubs/brownies etc). This will be good experience for you and assist with the assessment as you will be able to link general issues about children to the real children you know.
Will there be a health assessment?
All adopters need to have a medical assessment carried out by their own GP. We need to know whether adopters have any physical or mental health issues that may affect your ability to care for a child. Issues such as weight or whether you smoke do not necessarily stop you from applying to adopt. However, we need to think about the issues in the overall context of your health and the possible impact on the health of children requiring adoption. If you do smoke, you need to be aware that adoption agencies are unlikely to place young children with you because of the known risks of passive smoking. We would encourage you to access sources of support in order to give up smoking, and this would certainly increase your chances of having a child placed with you.
Can people adopt if they are undergoing fertility treatment?
We ask that you complete any fertility treatment before starting on the path to adoption. This is because we have found that if fertility treatment is unsuccessful, it is important for you to give yourself the time to adjust to not being able to have a birth child. We therefore ask you to wait for a minimum of 6 months before proceeding further with your interest in adoption.
Are there any other circumstances which may delay an application?
An application may be delayed if you have had a close bereavement in the last six months - for instance a parent, child or sibling or if you have had a miscarriage in the last six months. We would delay your application until you have had sufficient time to adjust to your loss.
Is there a fee payable for adoption?
We do not charge people a fee for adopting children from the UK and it is illegal for any money to pass from the adopter to the child's birth parents.