Adoption UK - 50th Anniversary

Adoption UK is 50!

50 is a big milestone, and an opportunity to pause, reflect and plan for the future. For 50 years we have supported, advocated, championed and been there for adoptive families around the UK.

Today our cause is as clear and compelling as ever; to secure the right support at the right time for the children at the heart of every adoptive and kinship care family.

For Adoption UK, this all began in 1971, when Elvis Presley and The Jackson 5 were in the charts, a gallon of petrol was 33p and two adopters starting running a voluntary organisation from their homes, for adopted children with special needs. Adoption has changed a lot since then, and so have we.

Jill

Jill Our lives changed forever after we adopted; in some negative ways but in many positive ways as well.

We adopted 13 years ago and at the time our local authority was still stuck in the mindset that all these children needed was love. If only it were that simple! Looking back the warning signs were there, patchy background information about our child, absence of clinical expertise, lack of specialist support and training. The usual cry of ‘lack of resources’ was often cited as a reason for not being able to do things despite not doing things being far more costly.

Our daughter doesn’t live with us and yet our adoption is far from a failure - but that is because we have refused to let it be a failure. She stopped living with us when her behaviour became too serious and risky for the rest of her family. However, despite being presented with huge hurdles by the LA, we have fought tirelessly for her. We went to court eight times to get her into a school where she could thrive and be successful. We fought for five years to get her the psychological work that she needed.

We see her and speak to her every week; we are involved in every aspect of her life. She stays with us, goes on holiday with us and stays with her extended adoptive family. We love her and she is part of our family and always will be. This presence has been hard won and sometimes the local authority would much rather we weren’t so involved but we are going nowhere!

Our daughter is now 17 and attending further education college. She is doing well and we are proud of her. Of course, there’s a long way to go and things will probably go awry again but at the moment she is happy and stable. She can be funny and engaging and slowly but surely we can see glimmers of maturity and an ability for reflection – we are holding our breath!

We get on very well with her foster carers and we all work together in the best interests of our daughter.

Adoption can be hard work but you need to believe in yourself and in your aspirations for your child. No-one can really know what adoption is like unless they have adopted!

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