Thinking about adoption?
National Adoption Week is running until 24 October and Adoption Central England (ACE) - the regional adoption agency for Coventry, Solihull, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire - is once again celebrating the week.
This year the focus is on sharing the voices of those whose lives have been changed by adoption and all its rewarding and challenging experiences. Throughout the week ACE is sharing adopter stories on their Facebook page @aceadoption [link: https://www.facebook.com/aceadoption]. The case studies will not only provide information about the adoption process but also include stories from adoptive families – giving a true insight into adoption.
One adoptive parent speaks openly about the highs and lows of adoption said: “Our adoption journey has been emotional yet exciting, frustrating yet fulfilling and terrifying yet totally worth it. It has definitely not been an easy option, but it is the most rewarding thing we have ever done. We have learned lots about ourselves, our capabilities and limits.
“We’ve been amazed by the level of support from the unlikeliest of places. The social workers from ACE have been there for us every step of the journey and have shared in the highs and lows of it all. Our family may not be typical or traditional, but we feel an incredible loving bond with our son. We are proud parents and proud to be adopters.”
One of the key priorities for ACE is to recruit and assess families for the many children who need stable and loving adoptive parents and since forming in 2018 ACE has successfully placed more than 350 children with adoptive families. Equally important is providing support to adoptive families. This may be low key such as opportunities to meet with other adoptive families and ongoing training, to more specialist therapeutic help that adoptive families may need as their children grow and develop into young people.
As a well-established adoption service ACE has many services in place to support people on their adoption journey, including the recently introduced Buddy Scheme. The scheme pairs up new adopters with experienced adoptive parents who offer additional advice and support to people during those early stages.
ACE welcomes interest in adoption from people from all sections of the community whether they are unable to have children of their own, or where they want to extend their home to those children waiting for a family. Interest is welcomed from single people, those in same-sex relationships and from the Black, African Caribbean and other minority ethnic communities.
People do have to be over 21 years to apply for adoption and able to provide a stable and secure home for a child who needs to be adopted.
If you’d like to find out more about adoption, ACE is waiting for your call. You can contact ACE on 0300 369 0556 or complete the enquiry form on the ACE website www.aceadoption.com. You can also make an enquiry by email on enquiries@aceadoption.com that will be followed up by one of our friendly adoption workers.