Blog
How to Create a Joyful and Autism-Friendly Christmas for Adopted Children
Celebrating Christmas with children who have autism or autistic traits can be a deeply meaningful experience, especially when families are able to make little adaptations to traditional festivities in order to meet their unique needs. Here we have suggested some practical advice inspired by families who have navigated this journey successfully. These tips are especially helpful for adoptive families seeking…
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Managing emotions at Christmas for adopted children
The run up to Christmas can be an exciting time, especially for families experiencing their first Christmas together. For some children the relaxed routines and the anticipation of Christmas can be an emotional rollercoaster. Whether you are a new family or parent(s) of a child who is anxious at Christmas, this original article written by Adoption Mid & West Wales…
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The Importance of Openness in Adoption
Sarah Johal, Adoption England Strategic Lead, shares her views on why it is important for the sector to help adopted people know more about their family history and stay in touch with birth family members or other important relationships, where safe and supported to do so. Sarah has decades of first-hand experience working within the sector, after previously leading the…
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The London Early Permanence Project
Hello! I am Grace Panayiotou, the Early Permanence Lead for a Department for Education (DfE) funded project for Adopt London and Coram Ambitious for Adoption. I have been in my role since October 2023 when Adopt London and Coram Ambitious for Adoption secured a bid via the DfE to develop Early Permanence (EP) across London. I have a business plan…
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Black families tell their adoption story
Watch these You Can Adopt films featuring three Black families; Azumah, who adopted her son with her husband, Jacqui, a single mum with a son who went on to adopt her foster daughter and Pearl and Errord, parents to twins boys and their adopted daughter Amara, who also talks about her experience. They tell us about their adoption journeys, and…
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Why adopting a neurodivergent child is a transformative journey for YOU!
Embracing Neurodiversity by bestselling author Chloe Hayden. Chloé Hayden is an award winning motivational speaker, actor, performer, author, influencer, content creator and disability rights activist and advocate. Diagnosed as autistic (and ADHD) at the age of thirteen and feeling ostracised from society, Chloe started an anonymous blog to share her feelings and to find a community and ended up building…
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“Did it fulfil all of our dreams? Of course it did!”
Tim and Raveen adopted their son through Early Permanence. Raveen explains what the process was like for them. “We were talking about having children for a while and exploring our options as a same sex couple. We looked at surrogacy and what that would involve and then the same at adoption, and after we were more drawn to adoption. That’s…
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Five facts about LGBTQ+ adoption in the UK
One in six adoptions in the UK are by same-sex couples, yet there are still many myths and concerns within the community about who can adopt, what is required to be able to adopt and how people will be treated. It seems strange that the first same-sex adoptions were only made legal 18 years ago in 2005. It was so…
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Getting yourself adoption-ready
Now is a good time to find out more about adopting a child. There’s a range of books, podcasts and organisations all sharing knowledge and first-hand experience of adoption – from all points of view. At Adopt London, we are keen to share a holistic and modern view of adoption, and we encourage prospective adopters – as part of their…
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How I see it by Harry
Read our interview with 13 year old Harry.* He was four years old when his parents adopted a little girl – his sister Cassie*. You can also read Harry’s mum’s blog. Scroll down and click the link. What’s your earliest memory of your sister coming to live with you? Not that much! It was nearly nine years ago. I…
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Spring Garden Fun
Lotty is a birth mum, an adoptive mum, a horticulturist and a landscape gardener. She shares a perfect craft activity to keep kids busy outside, collecting and creating. As you get out and about at this time of year you will see all the new leaves on the trees and the buds on the flowers, it’s the ideal time to…
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This is Cassie, my little sister …. she’s adopted!
Sara and Tony* knew they wanted another child. They already had their biological son Harry*, and discovered getting pregnant again wasn’t going to happen naturally. In their 40s the couple were considering their options in terms of growing their family and a little brother or sister for Harry. Sara and Tony decided they didn’t want the challenges of IVF, especially…
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Barber shop
Adopting a child of a different ethnicity raises the question of hair care. My son was adopted from Ethiopia and has jet black tight curly hair. My hair is that of a Caucasian person, straightish and dirty-blond in colour. My son’s dense, thickly wound curls, are a magnet for attracting things: sand on a beach, grass from the park, and…
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Adopting a child by Patricia Dopemu
At one time or another, many of us will have thought about adopting a child, especially as we know some children can wait longer for a new parent. For author Patricia Dopemu and her family, adoption was a lifelong calling. She had the desire but felt she wasn’t quite ready, or that she needed to be rich, until a friend…
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Inspirational Birth Mum Poem
One birth Mum talks openly about the many ways that Family Rights Group has helped her, and others like her by encouraging and supporting them to find ways to tell their stories, and to use their voices to raise awareness. Angela Frazer Wicks has a ten-year-old daughter who has no local authority involvement whatsoever and shortly before Christmas 2020…
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Starting Secondary School
Nothing prepared me for how big an adjustment secondary school would be for my son. I am the sole parent to a wonderful child I adopted from Ethiopia aged 20 months. My son has a bright, big beautiful smile and just wants to have fun and play. He’s very tall and looks closer to 15 years of age, than the…
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Early Permanence was the best decision we ever made
Family has always been important to my husband and I, so it was natural for us to want to start our own. Unfortunately, this was not a smooth journey and, after many years of failed IVF treatments, we decided to look into adoption. Towards the end of our adoption assessment, our social worker talked to us about the idea of…
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Adopt London Choir – That’s Christmas to me
The festive season is here and the Adopt London Choir is back with a Christmas song that not only gets you in the mood, but also demonstrates the friendship, support and sheer enjoyment of a group of adoptive families and staff. They have come together in what has been another year none of us expected. Choirmaster Megan Tanner and…
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Looking back on my journey to being a dad
Growing up I always knew I wanted to be a Dad and when I came out as a gay man that did not change. My husband and I initially looked at surrogacy, but it just didn’t feel right for us. Fast forward a few years and we began our adoption journey with our local authority at the time. When we…
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Tackling Fatherhood
I watch as all the other dads stand at the sidelines of mini-football cheering on their kids, shouting out advice – it’s all like some foreign Attenborough documentary. I know nothing about football, and nor does my male partner. But our 6-year-old son is obsessed; it’s all he talks about, giving us a play-by-play of the school lunchtime game with…
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