Adoption UK is 50!
50 is a big milestone, and an opportunity to pause, reflect and plan for the future. For 50 years we have supported, advocated, championed and been there for adoptive families around the UK.
Today our cause is as clear and compelling as ever; to secure the right support at the right time for the children at the heart of every adoptive and kinship care family.
For Adoption UK, this all began in 1971, when Elvis Presley and The Jackson 5 were in the charts, a gallon of petrol was 33p and two adopters starting running a voluntary organisation from their homes, for adopted children with special needs. Adoption has changed a lot since then, and so have we.
Contact us at [email protected]
Throughout our 50th year, we will be introducing 50 people with their own unique adoption stories. Not just adopters and adopted people – also friends, teachers and social workers whose lives have been touched by adoption. Powerful stories from every day people and those in the public eye, birth parents and kinship carers, grandparents and youth workers. It’s surprising how close we all are to someone with an adoption story. When you stop to think, is there one in your life?
If you would like to share your adoption story with us email [email protected]Click the links below to read their stories:
I have been an adoption social worker for 9 years now. I have never taken for granted the role I play in creating families through adoption. Read more
Adoption can be seen as a last resort for starting a family, but it was always my first choice. My view is, why create more people when so many children already need homes? Read more
I was born into a gypsy family. My birth mum was white, and so was her husband, but when I was born I was mixed-race. Read more
Adoption is more complex, more challenging, more rewarding, and more demanding than we ever could have imagined. Read more
Aurelio & Eddie adopted twin boys just before the first Covid lockdown. Read more
I’ve adopted six children all with complex needs. I was 21 when I started the adoption process. I’d never sought a relationship, but I’d always wanted to be a father. Read more
I joined the Army at 15 from a children’s home, not for a moment thinking I would ever become a parent. Read more
There are many reasons people choose to adopt. For us it was because we couldn't conceive. We knew we wanted a family. Read more
Our daughter was two when she was placed with us 27 years ago. Post-adoption support was non-existent, not being a requirement until 2005... Read more
By 1984 we had four adopted children with a bundle of sensori-motor, emotional, social, developmental and learning challenges. Read more
I am headteacher of a Cheshire primary school with a significant number of previously looked after children. They bring much joy, alongside inevitable challenge. Read more
My father was called up in 1939 for World War II and was granted two days’ leave to marry my mother at the end of 1940... Read more
Like many, myself and my wife Ann came to adoption after experiencing failed fertility treatment and for us this included a miscarriage. Our adoption journey began in 2018... Read more
My husband and I are parents to Amelie, who will be three in May 2021. She crash-landed into our lives when she was only two days old with literally twenty-four hours’ notice. Read more
When our suspicions of fertility issues were confirmed, my husband and I decided on adoption straight away, rather than riding the emotional rollercoaster of in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Read more
Gareth is an author and stay-at-home dad, living in Nottingham with his partner, two huskies and their two adopted children. Read more
Gary is an award-winning illustrator of children’s books. He and author Gareth Peter are the creators of My Daddies! a picture book about two book-loving dads and their adopted child. Read more
Gemma and her husband live in Scotland with their adopted daughter, Isabelle, who is six. Read more
I often feel that when it comes to adoption I am meeting myself coming back – I am an adopted person, an adoption social worker and an adopter. Read more
The first time I became aware of adoption, I was a student social worker in 1987, helping a birth mother write a letter and information for her child’s life story book. Read more
I was privileged to lead Adoption UK as its Chief Executive for five years from 2012 to 2017. Read more
Isma and her partner adopted their son when he was a “teeny, tiny two year old. He’s now a rather sturdy eight-year-old with biceps.” Read more
Our lives changed forever after we adopted; in some negative ways but in many positive ways as well. We adopted 13 years ago... Read more
Our journey to parenthood through adoption was a very long and difficult road and inspired us to try and make a difference. Read more