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First steps to adoption
‘Adoption is not a one off event,’ says Jeanne Kaniuk of Coram Family. ‘It’s a journey that unfolds through the different stages of a child’s life.’ Coram Family, originally the Foundling Hospital set up by 18th century philanthropist, Thomas Coram, arranged 45 adoptions in 1999 and 30 in 2000. This year, they expect to place more than 50, depending on how many adopters they have available.
Contrary to popular opinion, there aren’t enough potential adopters for the children available. In 1998/9 there were 2,200 children adopted from care in the UK. Government legislation in the new parliament aims to increase the numbers, speed up the process and set up a national register to match possible parents with children nationwide.
Reforming the process of adoption will acknowledge the social and economic changes that have taken place over the last 30 years. The stigma of single parenthood has reduced and it’s become easier to rear a child on your own. As a result, babies available for adoption are in short supply; over half of children adopted nationwide are now older than 5. This still means though that 25% of adopted children start to live with their new family before they are 12 months old.
Most children available for adoption today come into care through the courts.
Older children move away from their birth families for complex reasons. Their families have often suffered a multiplicity of disadvantages – mental illness, drug addiction, alcoholism, divorce and death. The children may be disabled, have learning difficulties, or suffered neglect or abuse. They will nearly always grieve for the loss of their birth family and bear the scars of separation and transition. On average, children spend three years in care waiting to be adopted.
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