Adopting a Kingston Child

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• Adopting a Kingston Child

Our next Information Meeting for those interested in adopting a child will be held in the Kingston area on Monday 3 September 2012 from 6.45pm - 9.15pm. If you are interested in attending, please contact our Duty social worker for a chat and further details on 020 8547 6042.

Adoption is a way of providing a new, permanent family for children who cannot live with their birth parents. It is a legal process and parental responsibility is transferred to the adoptive parents. The child becomes a full member of the new family and adoption is a life-long commitment.

Kingston is a relatively small authority, but we are always keen to recruit and assess prospective adopters who can provide love, stability and a permanent home for the children currently in our care.  As members of the child’s birth family will live within the Kingston area, we always look for those who live outside the borough, but usually not more than an hour’s drive away.

We are currently particularly keen to hear from those who are interested in adopting:-

• Children of mixed heritage or those from ethnic minorities
• School age children
• Pairs or groups of brothers and sisters
• Children with special needs, delayed  or uncertain development

If you are a Kingston resident we can still provide information and advice, and we may offer you a counselling interview, but we would not be able to process an application. For this you would need to approach other adoption agencies.

Kingston Adoption Team is primarily a service for children and it is their needs and interests that are of paramount importance.

Our children are all unique, and in Kingston we need all sorts of adopters from different backgrounds, ethnic groups and cultures. We welcome enquiries from single applicants and from same sex or different sex couples. You must be over 21 years to adopt a child and although there is no upper age limit, you would need to be in good health.

All adopted children have suffered loss and many have experienced neglect and abuse. We are looking for substitute parents who can show empathy and understanding and who are patient and tolerant. We need people who have space in their home, and the time and commitment to nurture and support a child as they grow and progress into adulthood and beyond.

Being an adoptive parent can be both rewarding and challenging, and having plenty of energy and a good sense of humour will be very positive qualities. Couples and individuals who are accepted for assessment need to be open and honest about their limitations as well as their strengths, and be adaptable, flexible in their thinking and willing to learn.

As with most Adoption Agencies throughout Britain, in Kingston we rarely place babies or children who have been voluntarily relinquished by their birth parents. Most of the children come into care, and are placed with Kingston foster carers because of their birth parents’ inability to provide safe, consistent, ‘good enough’ parenting.  This could be due to the birth parents’ ill health, learning difficulties, drug or alcohol dependency, or because of mental health or other issues. The period of instability may have been going on for some time and sadly the children may have suffered chronic neglect and/ or abuse over several years.

To register an interest in adopting a Kingston child, complete our Adoption Enquiry Form (link below).

Further information may be obtained about adoption from BAAF and from Adoption UK. Both of these national organisations offer advice and information and they also publish magazines featuring children throughout the UK who need adoptive parents:

British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF):
Website: www.baaf.org.uk
Tel: 020 7421 2600

Adoption UK
Website: www.adoptionuk.org.uk \
Telephone helpline: 0844 848 7900, 10am – 4pm.

New Family Social
Website: www.newfamilysocial.co.uk
Tel: 0843 2899 457.

This is a support group run by and for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender adopters and foster carers across the UK. Contact them for advice from experienced adopters and meet others near you.