What is adoption?

Some children cannot live with their birth parents for a variety of reasons. Adoption gives them the chance to grow up in a loving and stable home by enabling someone else to become their permanent legal parent. All rights and responsibilities are transferred from the original parents to the adoptive parents. The child assumes the surname of the new parents, receives an adoption certificate to replace their birth certificate and becomes a permanent and full member of the new family.

We believe that the stable foundations provided by a forever family give children the best possible chance of realising their full potential, and adoption is many children's only chance of experiencing this. Since adopting a child means committing to them for life, it’s a way of giving them the chance to grow up in a safe and secure environment and making a real difference to their life. Adoptive parents often say that adoption is one of the most challenging, but also one of the most rewarding things, you can ever do.

Why do children need adopting?