Adoption, Fostering & Tea: The New Family Social Podcast

It took two years for Neil and Stuart to go through the adoption assessment process, in part due concerns about their weight. They're now delighted to have their baby but the birth parents are contesting the adoption.

Our guests from episode 59 - "Counting down to panel" link below.  Return to tell us about their successful approval panel and what day to day life it like while they're family finding.   https://newfamilysocial.podbean.com/e/59-insert-title/

Walter has had episodes of depression since his late teens and thought it might be a barrier to adopting. He talks about how he was treated during assessment and how he copes with his mental health issues as a parent. He has been open with his adopted son about his depression and talks about how that openness has been positive for both of them.

Cameron and his husband have been doing lot or research about adoption. They're wondering whether they know enough, whether the should move house first and when is the right time to start the process. Luckily, they're volunteering at summer camp so they can find out more.

Robert is a lone parent of siblings, aged five and seven, who he adopted 18 months ago. He talks about the enormous benefits of adopting his children at the same time as well as the practicalities of working full time when you have two kids. He also talks about raising children from a different ethnic background to him own.   "Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People About Race" by Reni Eddo-Lodg...

Stuart and Simon adopted siblings in lockdown. They featured in an earlier episode of this podcast called "We've just adopted siblings" and now they're back to tell us about support services, school and how they celebrated the adoption with a sand ceremony.

Alex and Terry specialise in fostering babies and two of those babies joined us for the podcast! The couple discussed their journey to fostering, their first placement and the first baby who moved on from them to a permanent home. There's a desperate need for more foster carers and this episode might help you decide whether you could consider fostering.

Darren and his partner were approved as adopters and linked to a child but the courts ruled that the child should not be adopted. Darren talks about their emotional journeys and their excitement now they're about to go to matching panel with a new child.  He shares some tips for resilience during the process.

James and his husband adopted their son eight years ago but shortly afterwards, James's husband died suddenly. James talks about getting through the early days, with support from friends and family, and about how he helped his young son understand what had happened. He also talks about meeting and falling in love with a new partner and how, together, they keep the memory of his late husband alive...

Josh and his partner did introductions with their boys just six weeks ago. He talks in detail about the introductions process and the very early days of placement, while Tor says it's ten years today since she began intros with her son. They chat about the gradual transition for children from their foster carers' care to their adopters' care and discuss whether life is too short to make fish finge...

Brandon and Pier have been stuck at pre-stage-one for two years due to their immigration status, wedding and house move. They're finally ready to start. They've been to all the information sessions, made a spreadsheet and chosen an agency. Brandon talks about their families back in Italy, their support network and how they're building their childcare experience while trying to decide what kind of...

Ash and John talk about adoption journey, having both been adopted themselves.  Ash explains how he was adopted and has no details of his birth family.  John tells how he was given up for adoption after his birth mother was sexually assaulted.  John and his older half-brother were adopted together.  John tells how his foster family made introductions difficult, but his mother was determined to ado...

Aaron and Adam are counting down to their panel.  They share how their experience has been smooth, thanks to their social worker.  Aaron explains that big life events, which had happen to both of them, were positives when it came to assessment because they showed their resilience and demonstrated that the couple knew how to deal with traumatic events.  They talk about how the process helped them t...

Myfanwy and Jay return to update us on their journey.  They share how supportive their son's school as been, putting in to place a number of provisions to help him.  One the of the scheme, called "thrive", worked well but has come to an end.  The school is continuing to put other provisions in place to help.  They share how sometimes it’s still difficult, but they have more strategies in place to...

Lucy and Marie are in stage two with panel coming up soon.  They share how there have been some delays in stage one.  Marie was sure right from the start that she wanted siblings, being an only child, and because they felt that adopting siblings at the same time would help the children and mean they wouldn't have to go through the assessment process more than once.  They know they would like to ad...

Eleanor did Early Permanence twice. Her daughter remained with her and her son returned to his birth family.   A link to the therapist mentioned in the podcast,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/carla-reece-saunders-57528267  

It took two years for Alan and Douglas to be assessed. Alan talk about how this benefitted them and how they're coping with waiting.

Tim talks about splitting from his partner after adoption and how they manage to parent well despite some ongoing difficulties. He also talks about overcoming mental health issues and arriving at a much happier place.

How do adoptive and foster families do Christmas? Lee, Charlie and Chris tell us how they survive and thrive in the holidays.

Alex and Chris had a potential match fall through but they're staying positive about family finding.

Kate and Charlotte talk about their happy adoption journey and how they dealt with Charlotte's history of depression during assessment.

James is going to adopt as a single gay man. He's currently searching for his child.

Alex and James had had their son for a year when the phone range and they were asked if they could take their son's younger sibling immediately.

Rosie and Emily adopted a young baby through early permanence after IVF failed.

Amber escaped a forced marriage and rebuilt her life.  She decided to adopt when she was 40 and talks about how adopting complements her spiritual beliefs.