James and Warren

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Posted on October 23, 2019 at 12:00 PM

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For several years now, we have always wanted to be Dad’s. We have so much love to give and could provide a little one with their forever home. As a same sex couple, traditional routes to parents were not an option for us. We felt that as there were children out their needing a home, adoption was always going to be the route we wanted to take to become dads.

To learn more about adoption we attended one of the information events; we were nervous walking through the door not knowing what to expect. However, we felt really welcomed. The team members running the event were so friendly, explained the process to us and answered all the questions that we had, and we came away feeling this is definitely for us.

The journey can feel quite daunting however the advice we would give to anybody is to break the process down into steps and smaller milestones. Also, we quickly learnt that whilst there is a set process and guidelines on timings, everyone’s journey is different. A key piece of advice is to be patient.

The other thing we learnt was how it is all about your resilience during the process but also for life going forward when your little one comes to live with you. You need to always be open and honest. If you have concerns or worries it is always best to speak about them at the time.

On the preparation training we got to meet and develop relationships with other people on the same journey as us, as well as meeting people who had adopted or were foster carers. The training covered why adoption exists and how children come into care. It really opened our eyes to how adopted children require different parenting techniques with the focus being on therapeutic parenting and that it is about the child and their needs, not ours as adopters.

We have felt fully supported throughout the process, from the stage 1 assessment, preparation training right through to stage 2 to create our report for panel approval.

We have recently been approved at panel to be adoptive parents, it is naturally a very daunting day as the months of preparation builds up to this and is a date that you are mindful of through the assessment process.

We were nervous with anticipation of what panel would be like, however the panel members were very welcoming and discussed the strengths and vulnerabilities with us that were identified during the stage 2 assessment. We were on cloud nine when we were told that we got unanimous approval from all panel members.

We are now excited to be matched with our little one over the coming months and to start our future as a family of three.

If anyone is considering starting the adoption process, we would encourage them to take the first step and attend an information event to find out more.

This process could change your life forever.

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