I'm considering placing my child for adoption. Is there anyone I can speak to about it?

Yes. Placing your child for adoption is an important decision to make. You may find it helpful to speak to a number of different people, for example your family and friends, the adoption social worker at your council or adoption agency. Or you might want to consult someone like your doctor or religious leader/advisor or someone from your place of worship. You can take legal advice from a solicitor if you have questions about the way adoption works, what it means and how you should deal with it. You may be entitled to publicly funded legal help.

The agency must carefully assess and discuss with you the various ways in which your child's future care may be provided for. You will be given the opportunity to express your views and to discuss your anxieties. The adoption agency must provide you and your child (depending on his age and understanding) with counselling. The purpose of which is to ensure that you are aware of your rights and responsibilities, that alternatives to adoption are realistically explored, and that the nature and implications of adoption are fully discussed.

Source: Department of Health

I wish to place my baby for adoption what is the procedure?

Before the birth of the baby and parents of babies up to the age of 3 months.

A parent who is considering placing their baby for adoption must be offered counselling and must be given time after the baby is born to reflect on their decision. Many are sad about not being able to raise or have a relationship with their child. Some have said that they eventually adjusted to the loss of the child, but that the pain and grief lasted a very long time. Others have said that life was never the same after placing the child.

Independent support by After Adoption The parent must be offered independent support, which can by provided by After Adoption, Yorkshire. For further information write to:- After Adoption 31 Moor Road Headingley LEEDS LS6 4BJ Telephone: 0113 2302100 or Email: aay@dialstart.net

The baby will need to be accommodated and placed in foster care prior to an adoption being arranged.

The Adoption Memorandum must be signed by the birth parent, to show that they have been counselled and understand the permanent nature of the adoption. A new mother cannot be asked to sign this memorandum before the baby is 6 weeks old.

Does the baby's father need to be contacted?

When information for adoption is being prepared, efforts will be made to contact the child's father if at all possible, or alternative ways of gaining information about him have been explored.

What questions will the adoption social worker ask me?

Before the adoption can be arranged the social worker will ask for a lot of personal information about you, your family and your child. The information you give will help build the fullest possible picture of your child and his family background and will help make the best decision about his future. You can help the adoption agency with this by telling them as much as you can about yourself and your family. It is also important for birth parents to provide information on the family's health history so that the agency can be aware of any hereditary conditions which the child might be predisposed too.

It will also be helpful for your child's new parents to know something about his background, and over the years your child himself will want to know about his origins. Information about the family's health can be very important too, especially when the child grows up.

Source: Department of Health

I don't want my child to be adopted. What can I do?

It is most important for you to have legal advice as soon as possible. Consult a solicitor straight away - you can find one through the Community Legal Service Directory - you can telephone 0845 608 1122 (Minicom: 0845 609 6677). You may be able to get publicly funded legal advice and representation in court (this used to be known as legal aid). A solicitor will be able to advise you about this.

One of two things must happen before a court can take away your rights as a parent, so that your child can be adopted: either you must agree to or the court must decide to go ahead without your agreement. But the court can only do so if one of the circumstances set out in the law applies in your case, and the court will need to have satisfactory evidence of this. The court will send you a copy of the statement of evidence they are given, and you should discuss it with your solicitor as soon as you can.

The court will also ask a social worker independent of the agency (known as a guardian ad litem) to visit you. Their job is to safeguard your child's interests on behalf of the court, so they will want you to tell them why you do not think it is a good idea for your child to be adopted. They will report your views to the court, because it is very important for them to know how you feel about your child's future. You will also have an opportunity to go to the court yourself if you want to, to explain why you are not willing to agree to your child's adoption. An adoption order cannot be made unless the court is sure it would be in your child's best interests for him to be adopted, and they will have to take account of your views in deciding this.

If you are objecting to this agency's application for a freeing order, you are not allowed to take the child away from where he is living at the moment, unless the court says you may.

Can an adoption order be revoked?

An adoption order cannot be revoked except when one of the child's birth parents adopts him and then later marries the child's other birth parent. Also in exceptional cases the High Court has the power to set aside an adoption order on appeal where a mistake or failure of natural justice due to procedural irregularity is alleged.

Source: Department of Health - Adoption Act 1976

Can I keep in contact with my child after he has been adopted?

In the past there was a lot of secrecy surrounding adoptions. That has changed and today it is considered better for the child to grow up in the knowledge of his origins with adopters who will encourage this. There may be direct or indirect contact with you and your family but that depends on what is in the child's interests.

The majority of adopted children have clear memories of their birth families and relatives and for many children, relationships with members of their family, previous carers and others are valued. Consequently contact may help the adoption to be successful.

If it is decided that indirect contact would be best for the child, you may be asked to write to the adoptee once or twice per year to give them information to pass onto the child about what is going on in your life at present. The adopters will also be asked to write to you once or twice per year to let you know how the child is getting on. Photographs may also be exchanged in some circumstances.

I know my child will be given a new surname after he has been adopted. How will he know his original surname?

Adopters often change the child's first name as well as his surname, though this is discouraged in older children, and they get an adoption certificate from the Registrar General which shows the child's new name only and shows the adopters as his parents. This certificate takes the place of a birth certificate. But when your child reaches 18, he will be legally entitled, if he wants to, to get a copy of his original birth certificate. This will show his original name, and will also tell him the name of his birth mother, and the address she was living at when his birth was registered. But don't forget that many children are not babies when they are adopted and may be old enough to remember their original surname.

Will my child be able to find me after he has been adopted?

That is up to him. When he is 18 he can apply for his birth certificate. Once he knows your name he can leave a letter with the agency which arranged the adoption. He can also apply for entry on to the Adoption Contact Register as can you. If you are both on the Register, your child will be notified but it is for him to decide whether to contact you.

Source: Department of Health