A Life Less Ordinary
No child should have to wait longer than another to be adopted and yet more than 1,000 children in England are waiting significantly longer than others to find their forever homes. These children tend to be slightly older, are brothers and sisters waiting to be adopted together, have physical or educational needs, or come from ethnic minority backgrounds.
In this new film (produced by You Can Adopt as part of a national campaign), real-life adopters of children from the above groups were interviewed by a panel of experts, to find out exactly what it takes to have #ALifeLessOrdinary.
The film features Sharon, a Black single mother who adopted a mixed heritage child. Adam and Daniyal a same-sex male couple who adopted their son Samad who is of mixed heritage. Randhiraj, who adopted an older child, then aged 5, and Malcolm and Shelley who adopted three children, their youngest, who has specific health needs.
Adoption stories from around London
Following the campaign’s theme, Adopt London shares real-life stories from families across London whose lives have been impacted by adoption.
Asye & Hakim – Our son has a medical diagnosis called Spina Bifida, with a high chance he will need a wheelchair. When we saw his photo, we wanted to know more.
Sarah’s Siblings – Nothing can beat the feeling of knowing, as you watch your children laugh and play together, that you are the reason that they are still together.
Selwyn & Jade – Much Like a Normal Family – this is an honest account of life after adopting a sibling group of three that all have additional needs.
Tim & Sara – Tim and Sara talk to us about having adopted three; now very tall teenagers and the different ways that they all do amazing things. Plus the mud, the arguing, the cooking and the endless need for new shoes for growing feet…
A Life Less Ordinary Podcast
Carrie and David Grant interview Kathryn and Adrian, who adopted three children with additional needs. They discuss deciding to adopt children with additional needs, the support they received, and their daily life as an adopted family. Listen to the #YouCanAdopt podcast here.
We Are Family Podcast
The Adoption Shared podcast host Eddie Elliott talks to adoptive mum Angela about her experience of adopting an older child. Angela talks about going through the process and parenting as a single adopter. Adoption Shared podcasts are produced by the We Are Family adoption support community in partnership with Adopt London.
Meet Adopt London’s diverse adoption community
We have 100s of adoptive families who represent the diversity of London and the children we need families for, and we still need more black and mixed ethnicity families. We’re encouraging potential adopters from the Black African and Black Caribbean communities to find out more. If you are interested in becoming a parent through adoption, you can meet parents who have already adopted at one of our online Meet The Adopter sessions. These sessions are informative, you can hear from adoptive families and you can ask your questions directly to an adopter and find out what it’s really like to adopt a child.
To research more information on adoption, please visit our You Can Adopt and We Are Family pages.