For those of you following my adoption journey, or for friends and family who want to know a little more about how it all works, there is an EXCELLENT podcast which I highly recommend.

I have had several podcasts recommended to me since starting this journey, some I found too trite, some too religious, and some were based on the American adoption system which is very different from the UK and therefore not all that helpful for me.

However, there is a podcast series by BBC Radio 4 called “The Adoption” from their World at One series. It has 17 episodes, each about 8-10 minutes long, and it is a documentary, following the story of two real children in the UK on their road to adoption.

The names have been changed, and certain elements of their stories have been redacted, to protect them, but it gives a fascinating and real insight into the process, and the experience from the point of view of the children, their social worker, their birth parents and birth grandparents, and the adoptive family. Obviously they have had to remove certain parts, such as the real reasons the children were taken away from their birth family, so some parts are a little confusing or vague, but it’s clear they had good reasons and you won’t hear anything harrowing in terms of abuse or neglect.

I have found it extremely gripping, useful, and informative, and it has given me a lot of insight into the process from the child’s perspective, and from the birth family, and I think it’s really worth a listen for anyone who is interested in adoption in the UK, or who wants to know more about what it might have been like for my child, once they come along.

You can listen online here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05k3wsq

or you can find it on your usual podcast place, but I highly recommend giving it a go.

Well, it took 4 months instead of 2 months, but I have finally finished Stage 1 of the adoption process! I received my official letter, (it was back in March, but I’ve been busy) and have said goodbye to my Stage 1 social worker and met my new Stage 2 social worker.

My new social worker is nice, but very no-nonsense. She’s extremely experienced, and clearly doesn’t waste any time. She was a little bit scary and intimidating, but obviously keen to crack on with things, and so we had a planning meeting to put lots of dates in the diary when we could meet. Usually in Stage 2 you would have 8 meetings over 4 months (roughly once every 2 weeks) but she said as I’m a single adopter we probably won’t need that many meetings, so we have scheduled 6 for now, from now until the end of June.

During that time I have some homework to do, some financial info to pull together, and various other bits and bobs to do. After the last meeting, we will have around 4-6 weeks for her to write up the report, for me to have a chance to review it and make any comments, and then it will be submitted to the Adoption Panel, which sits approx 3 times a month.

My new social worker has even proposed a possible date for me to go to the panel in late July, though this hasn’t been confirmed yet.

All very exciting, and things are getting a bit real now!

They have also told me that they have never approved a single adopter for siblings before, and it is very unlikely that would be possible, so I am most likely to be matched with a single child, which is fine with me. So finally moving up to the next stage!

Watch this space for more news on the parent front!