The adoption sub-group of the Public Law Working Group has called for “wholesale reform” of the adoption system in its report Recommendations for best practice in respect of adoption.
The report, which has been in the pipeline for four years focuses on five areas: international adoption; consensual adoption; access to adoption records; processes and procedures in court; and contact.
-
Adopted young people inspire better support
-
Care-experienced young people become advocates for change and policy influencers
It states that “the model of adoption has adapted and changed over the years, and that more needs to be done to make it effective now, including making use of digital tools for both training, information and contact”.
Researchers say that while in the original model for adoption was based on children being “relinquished” at birth, now most adopted children have been within the children’s social care system.
The number of adoptions in England and Wales has significantly changed, peaking at around 25,000 in the late 1960s and falling to around 2,950 in 2022.
A key recommendation from the report sees authors call for a shift away from written contact between birth families and their adoptive children towards face-to-face meet-ups where possible.
It states that this must be backed “with training and greater support and counselling for birth parents”.
“Whilst there has been a great deal of research in recent years as to the potential advantages to adopted children of maintaining some sort of face-to-face contact with the birth family, it remains unusual for the care plan for children who are going to be placed for adoption to propose more than indirect or letterbox contact,” the report states.
Responding to the report, Cathy Ashley, chief executive of the Family Rights Group, described the current system as “archaic”.
“Even where a child can’t live within their family, it doesn’t mean that their relatives don’t care about them. The permanent separation between adopted children and their birth family, often leaves children with unanswered questions and a sense of loss, that can last a lifetime.
“The Public Law Working Group report makes clear that when determining whether a child should be placed for adoption, the court should prioritise examining the possible benefits of the child having a continuing relationship with their birth parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents or other family members – where it is safe to do so. This is a hugely important step in modernising adoption processes in England and Wales,” she said.
Other key recommendations in the report include the introduction of a national protocol for a standard procedure for access to records applications and national strategy for adoption by consent cases.
Researchers say a strategy for adoption by consent cases must include “training for all, better access to legal advice for parent(s) before the birth, and that local authorities bring proceedings straight away, and that they are listed urgently”.
Chair of the Public Law Working Group sub-group Mrs Justice Judd, said: “This report highlights the need for significant change so that adopted children have more opportunity to keep in touch with their birth families unless it is not safe, and better access to their records. It also calls for changes to process and clearer guidance for international adoptions, and recognises the lasting effect of adoption orders on birth and adoptive families.”
Case study: Angela Frazer Wicks MBE, chair of trustees at Family Rights Group
“The last words I said to my then five-year-old son before he and his 14-month-old brother were driven away by social workers after the ‘goodbye’ contact visit was ‘I love you, mammy will write really soon.’
I had fought so hard to prove to my local authority that I could protect them from my abusive ex-partner - but sadly, without help, I had ultimately failed. They were being adopted.
A yearly letter exchange, known as letterbox, was all I had left to hold onto. It was the only thing keeping me going.
Those letters would go on to change my life. Reading that my children were happy safe and loved enabled me to slowly move forwards. I finally escaped the abuse, met and married my husband and we went on to have a daughter. Those letters then became a way for her to build a relationship with her brothers. For such a young child writing letters was far from ideal. Sadly letterbox broke down when my eldest son became a teenager. I always hoped he would contact us again when he was ready. As the years went on we came to accept that we may never hear from either of the boys ever again.
Until December 2020, when we received an email that changed all of our lives. My eldest son wanted to contact us - 48 hours later we face-timed and my daughter finally got to speak to her brother. We discovered he had been trying to contact us for years but that my old local authority had mistakenly told him I was a risk and refused to help him. Seeing him struggle, his adopted mother had selflessly stepped in and helped him find me on-line.
As he lives in Australia, we have spent almost four years speaking via video calls. Last month my son and his wife finally travelled to the UK. 20 years, three months and 14 days on from that awful goodbye we said hello again in person. And my daughter, at the age of 13, finally got to meet her biggest brother. Seeing them together, laughing, joking, playing games, building a real relationship was all I ever could have hoped for and more.
So often there is a lack of understanding of the importance of post adoption contact and it can be seen as something that only benefits the birth family. I genuinely hope that this report helps to change that. Whilst we must always be aware of, and manage any risk, we should be enabling more families to stay connected – especially siblings. Allowing our children to know they are loved, wanted and missed; enabling them to understand their culture, heritage and identity; and giving them the chance to stay connected to the people they love can only strengthen their sense of self.”
