Last month, at Adopters for Adoption, we placed our 100th adopted child in the same year as celebrating our 5th anniversary. This is a huge achievement for all the team and there is a real buzz around the office.
Sally Heaven-Richards, Head of Service for Adopters for Adoption said, “We’re excited to share that last month Adopters for Adoption celebrated its 100th placed adopted child. This occasion is certainly one to celebrate as it came in the form of a sibling group of three! But, more importantly, it really emphasizes for us the difference we have made to the lives of all the children that we have placed since opening our doors in 2014. We were delighted to present our family with a bouquet of flowers to celebrate this momentous occasion and we now look forward to helping even more vulnerable children to find their forever families.”
Placing a sibling group of three was really special for Adopters for Adoption, especially as it was made up with children aged, 11, 4 and 2. Placing siblings can be difficult, yet more than half of all children waiting to be adopted are siblings that need to be placed together. In addition to this, the eldest child was 11, which meant that we were also able to place an ‘older child’ (an older child in terms of adoption can include any child over 4 years old). So for us, this was a fantastic achievement as we work tirelessly to secure placements for the most vulnerable of children.
The adoptive parents in this instance (aged 50 and 46) had set a wide age range that they would consider, so they were open to searching for potential children of all ages. They had also gained specific skills through reading and research to manage the needs of different children, including siblings. Therefore, they seemed to be an ideal match for this sibling group of three. During the matching process, the adoptive parents had plenty of opportunities to meet with the children, which really helped them to form a bond and allowed them to feel comfortable with each other before the children went to live with them.
The child’s adoptive parents said, “On the night that the girls were due to come and live with us, we were excited but also a little apprehensive! We had everything ready to go, including their rooms where we had unpacked all of their belongings to make them feel as at home as possible. The girls arrived and everything just seem to run so smoothly before we knew it, it was early nights for all as we were all exhausted from a busy day. Since moving in, the children seem to have settled in really well. We enrolled them into schools before the summer holidays start so that they got to meet some friends ahead of the following academic year and this has really helped with building a routine and providing structure to their day. Although it is early days, we are settling in well and enjoying our time together – there have been challenges but we have managed to overcome them in a positive way.”
If you know somebody who may be interested in adopting a child, please ask them to contact Adopters for Adoption on 0800 5877 791 or contactus@adoptersforadoption.com.
