Adoption stories: Contact and life story interview with birth mum Sammy
This week’s interview about contact and life story work is with birth mum Sammy. I’m really grateful she’s agreed to give us an insight into things from her perspective. It’s so important that adopters understand the importance of contact for birth families. It’s sometimes the case that they don’t feel able to reply to our […]
Adoption stories: Contact and life story interview with Hayley
This week’s contact and life story interview is with Hayley. She shares how she and her husband manage contact and the types of things they have started to explore in terms of life story work with their young daughter. Introduce yourself and your family I’m Hayley, my husband Lee and I adopted our daughter when […]
CoramBAAF: An introduction to life story work for adoptive parents
This article is all about adoption life story work. It’s written by Dr John Simmonds, Director of Policy, Research, and Development at CoramBAAF, the leading membership organisation for professionals, foster carers, and adopters. Life story work is a crucial part of an adopted child’s childhood. It helps them understand their birth history and their journey […]
Adoption stories: Contact and life story interview with Chris
The next series of interviews is about contact and life story work. Knowing about their birth history and learning to understand it is really important for adopted children. This post written by Dr John Simmonds, is a great introduction to life story work. I think knowing how important it is can sometimes place more pressure on […]
Indirect contact: The settling in letter
I can’t begin to imagine what it is like being told by a court that I can’t parent my child. And then having to say goodbye to them, knowing I won’t see them again for many years. One thing adopters can do to help birth parents deal with this unimaginable time, is to make sure […]
Creating a life storybook: Storydo
Having an accurate and age-appropriate life storybook is really important to help our children understand their birth history. The standard of life storybooks provided by local authorities varies massively. Some are brilliant. Some are completely inadequate. We’ve been really lucky because both of our girl’s books are brilliant. They contain a fair amount of detail […]
Older or younger? What aged child are you going to adopt?
One of the hardest parts of the adoption assessment is deciding the age-range of child or sibling group you want to be approved for. We found this really difficult not least because we had very different views at the start as to what age we’d be the best parents for. It sounds very cold and […]
What to include in post box contact
In my work life, I’d heard the term post box contact used a lot well before we adopted. In my head, I imagined that in each council office reception area, there was a massive letterbox. Anyone writing a contact letter posted it there and then the council distributed them to the correct people. As far […]
Food for thought
I wrote this post in 2017, but it’s still very much relevant now. Adoption brings a complicated mix of emotions. Heartbreak and devastation for birth families. Joy and excitement for adoptive families who are welcoming children into their lives. Adoption doesn’t define our children. It’s something that happens to them which is completely out of […]
Adoption court hearings
I wrote this post not long after the court proceedings for youngest were concluded. This part of the process is something adopters are told the least about. And not knowing how it works and why adds to the stress and anxiety for us all. I hope you find it useful. At last we’re no longer […]