Top reasons why more people can adopt that you think!
Here we demystify the myths around adopting a child
Adoption at Heart, the regional adoption agency for the Black Country and surrounding areas, is appealing for more people to come forward to adopt a child into a safe, loving, and permanent home. There are around 100 children at any one time across the Black Country that need an adoptive family as they are unable to live with their birth families. The children that are waiting for new families range from babies and toddlers up to older children.
The Agency, which provides adoption services for City of Wolverhampton Council, Dudley Council, Sandwell Children’s Trust and Walsall Council, is calling for all those who are considering adoption, or would like some more information, to take the next step and get in touch. Adopters are needed from all walks of life and families are particularly sought for individual children, groups of brothers and sisters, black and mixed heritage children, and children with additional needs.
There are some misconceptions around who can adopt, and many people mistakenly rule themselves out. Adoption@Heart wants to help combat those misconceptions to encourage more people to come forward to find out more. Lots of people can adopt, you can be:
Single, living together, married or a same sex couple
LGBTQ+.
In employment or not working
A parent already
A home owner or renting your home
From any ethnicity
Someone with a disability
From any faith – or not following one
The main criteria to adopt are that potential adopters:
must legally be a UK resident and have been so for at least 12 months
be aged 21 or over. There is no upper age limit
must not have a criminal conviction or caution for offences against children or for serious sexual offences.*
*Other criminal offences will not automatically exclude you but will be taken into consideration during the assessment process, so please be open with Adoption at Heart from the start.
Adoption@Heart’s Head of Service, Lisa Preston, says: “We are looking for parents who can give children a secure home, giving them lots of individual time, understanding and on-going support to help them reach their full potential. We are looking for a diverse range of people from within the community, irrespective of gender, sexual orientation or disability. We particularly need people to come forward that can adopt black or mixed heritage children.
"People who could make really good adoptive parents are often put off because they wrongly think they are not eligible to adopt and that it is a difficult process. We really want to encourage people to come forward and talk to us to find out more.
"The need to recruit adopters does not stop and in fact we need more adopters now than ever before, so, we are asking anyone who has thought about adoption to get in touch or register for one of our information events to find out more and have a chat, as we are always here to support you every step of the way.”
It is easy to find out more about adoption with information events taking place every two weeks. The events are the perfect place for those who are ready to start their adoption journey or would simply like more information.
The next adoption information event is being held on:
Saturday 20 May at 10am at Bert Williams Leisure Centre in Bilston.
To book your place, or to look at other event dates including virtual events, visit www.adoptionatheart.org.uk/events.
Adoption@Heart is the Regional Adoption Agency for the Black Country, providing adoption services for City of Wolverhampton Council, Walsall Council, Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council and Sandwell Children’s Trust. The agency welcomes enquiries from these areas as well as the surrounding areas in the West Midlands and surrounding counties.
For more information, please visit www.adoptionatheart.org.uk, call 01902 553818 or email info@adoptionatheart.org.uk
