If you are considering adopting a child, to start the process, get in touch with your local adoption agency. Once in contact with them, they provide general information as to procedures and expected timelines. In addition, they will put you in touch with other adoptive parents who are able to give support, advice, and talk about their experiences at group meetings. Local agencies will also help give you an understanding of the needs of adoptive children. It is important to remember that many of these children come from homes where they may have experienced abuse and/or neglect. With respect to criteria of adoptive parents, agencies do not have a set list per se, rather they look for people from all walks of life, and try to match parents who have some life experience to help meet the needs of a child.

If you and the agency agree that adoption is for you, you will continue with the written application to adopt. It is advisable at some point to have one of our family solicitors look over your application to ensure it is completed correctly. Once accepted, the agency will require that you attend preparation classes to help get you ready for the arrival of your child; they will do background checks including police checks and interviews with referees familiar with you and your family; you must take a full medical examination; and the agency will also assess your suitability by sending a social worker to your home. This part of the process takes approximately 8 months to complete.

If deemed suitable for adoption, you could be matched with a child at any time after that. When adopting a child from England or Wales, this time period can vary from weeks to months depending on the situation. However, if you are looking to adopt a child from overseas you should expect that this could take significantly longer. If you are not accepted as a suitable candidate to adopt, then you may opt to challenge the decision of the agency.

Once a child has come to live with you, there is a minimum 10 week period before you can apply to the court for an adoption order. It is certainly advisable that at this stage of the process that you retain a solicitor. The solicitor can help to ensure that the process is complete, giving you firm legal rights to assume the parental responsibilities over the child. At this point, nobody else can take your child away or assume parental responsibility for them.

Image by Kevin Rohr at www.sxc.hu

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