New national campaign inspires people to start their adoption journey – find out more.

Adoption Stories

The best examples of the families and children we’ve matched are when they share their personal journeys in their own words, so here we tell some of the stories of real-life adoptive families. They share from the very start of their journeys through to the experience of assessments, matching, and parenting.

Adoption Stories

2nd time adopters Choir LGBT

Conversations with Tom

Tom and his husband Dan adopted their son about 2 years ago.  Family life is busy and has its challenges, but it is also everything they hoped it would be.  They talked to us about the assessment process, matching with their son, and how they are all looking forward to welcoming another adopted child into their home, and adjusting to life as a family of four.

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Intercountry Transracial

Intercountry and transracial adoption

We spoke to Dominic about his experience of being adopted by a white British couple and brought to the UK as a baby from Thailand.  Dominic is a strong advocate for adoption; he wears his adoption ‘like a badge of honour’ and hopes that talking about it will give other children the opportunities and aspirations that they deserve. 

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LGBT Siblings

Adopting three siblings

If someone had told me two years ago that I would, in a matter of months, become the instant parent of three children aged 4, 5, and 6, I’d have thought they were completely mad!

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BME NationalAdoptionWeek

Henrietta’s story

One piece of advice Henrietta would give to other people in the community considering adoption is: “Go for it, don’t let anything hold you back.”

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Early Permanence

An early permanence story

We thought that as we had two of our own birth children, that Early Permanence was not be something that we would be able to manage. It was our social worker who asked us to consider it and explained the challenges.

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Adopted Adult Birth family

Toni’s story

‘I was taken from school to my last foster home. I didn’t get to say goodbye to anyone. I didn’t know I would NEVER go home again. My birth parents had run out of chances.’

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BME

Rosaline and Robert’s story

Rosaline had a child from a previous relationship, but after getting married to Robert they decided they wanted a child of their own. They became aware of the number of mixed-race children who needed adopting and found that they were in a unique situation as a bi-racial couple, to help make a difference to a child's life.

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Birth family

Margaret’s 1971 adoption story

Adoption is a lifelong experience. Read Margaret's 1971 adoption story, a birth mother’s perspective.

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Adopted Adult BME Transracial

Orla’s story

Orla was adopted by a white couple in the 19070s, who then moved to London to live in a more diversely rich area. Read Orla’s adoption story from the perspective of the adopted adult.

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BME IVF NationalAdoptionWeek

Ikemba and Funmi’s story

Funmi and Ikemba went into the adoption process wanting to adopt a black African child and yet their adopted son is Caribbean. The reality is for them the bond was immediate.

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