If you are thinking of becoming an adopter then this week might be a good time to actually do something about it.
The City of Edinburgh Council is running a series of events including an Adoption Week Drop-in event on 21 November 2019 between 4.00pm and 7.00pm. You can expect to learn about the process of becoming an adopter and what it might involve.
We spoke with one of the partners in a same sex relationship about their own experience. The couple, who are both professionals in their mid-thirties, adopted a baby boy this time last year. It took until around September 2019 until the adoption was finalised, but the whole process began about three years ago.
After a low key Christmas when they and their son were just establishing their relationship, this year might well be something else!
During the initial period of two years their application was processed, and then they were approved as potential adopters. Shortly afterwards they were offered a wee boy who was just one year-old. Their adoption story has been a model one, as he has had no problems in fitting in to his new living arrangements. He had been placed in foster care as a young baby, and now he has two loving parents with an extended family too.
Initially the couple had hoped to adopt siblings, but now they say they plan to adopt another child in a year or so.
They know everything about their young son’s back story and have kept a memory box for mementoes from his first year, as well as everything that you would expect from his time with them.
When they were offered their baby for adoption they began a series of visits over a period of just over a week with him and his foster family. After that he came to live with them and they simply have not looked back.
Our interviewee said : “He is brilliant. And he’s fitted in and settled much better than we could have imagined or hoped for. He’s had no problem bonding with both of us and he’s happy, very content. He’s very easygoing and sleeps and eats well. I don’t think we could have hoped for anything better than this.
“I think we had plenty of time to get ourselves ready. You know, we were on the sort of journey, if you like for, you know, a couple of years before he came to us.
“One of the best things was that the social worker we had assigned to us has been with us through the whole journey and we feel very lucky in that sense.”
They no longer have contact in an official sense with the council or their social worker but they do know that they have that back up if they experience any problems.
So while that is a great and good news story the council do help in all adoption cases and are on hand in case things go wrong. But in the first place what the council’s team is looking for are people who might think about taking on this responsibility.
Russell Sutherland, The City of Edinburgh Council’s Adoption Team Manager, said: “We’re looking for people who can provide a loving home for a child or children for life and give them the security they need to allow them to thrive and look towards a positive future. Our adopters came from all walks of life, and we’re increasingly seeing more same sex couples and single people adopting with us.
“We particularly need more families who will consider sibling groups and children aged between 4 and 6 with more challenging needs. We are looking for adopters all year round but there is a particular focus this week and I would encourage anyone interested to come along to our drop-in event at Waverley Court on Thursday.”
The Adoption Week drop-in is at Waverley Court on Thursday 21 November between 4pm and 7pm. For further information contact them on 0800 174 833 or go to www.edinburghfostering.org.uk/adopt/
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
