The UK Adoption Process

It’s news from Britain today for some reason …

A story from the UK addressed the misperceptions about international adoption there by citing one family’s journey.

Pointing out that the media coverage of celebrity adoptions making the process look fast and easy is not an accurate portrayal, the article gives history and perspective.

While controversy still surrounds Madonna who seemingly breezed into Malawi, plucked a baby boy she liked the look of out of an orphanage and took him back to her London mansion, Neil and Kate’s story stresses the reality of international adoption and how far removed it is from the media coverage of the superstar.

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With numerous checks, preparation courses and regular visits from social workers the couple were really put through the mill in order to ensure they were suitable adoptive parents before they even got a glimpse of the little boy they would bring home.

In fact the whole process started way back in January 2002 when they registered with Norfolk Social Services.

… The couple’s first test was a preparation course for inter-country adoption in London.

Kate [the mom] said: “They make you think about what happens to the child in later life, what stages they are going to go through and how you will confront them, how you make decisions. It was very intensive.”

That was followed by six months in the homestudy phase, then approval by an adoption panel. After approval, they applied for a certificate of eligibility that took another 6 months to receive.

Once the UK side of the paperwork mountain was climbed, they started the process in their birth country of choice, Philippines. Long story short … they met their son in August 2006.

Funnily enough, 74% of people surveyed in the UK thought that international adoption was easier than adopting domestically, and 58% believed Brits adopt more kids from abroad than from home.

The facts are that less than 400 international adoptions are done in a year … last year there were 313 … while 4000 British kids are in need of placement, and it requires the same assessment and approval process as domestic adoption.

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