There could be any number of reasons for you considering either adopting or fostering a child, but how do you know which option would be better for you and the potential new addition to your family? Let’s take a look at the pros of both:
Adopting a child
When adopting a child, you are welcoming them fully into your family as your own; the child will take on the family surname once the adoption has been made legal through an adoption court order – this can be done 10 weeks after the child has lived with you. This gives you parental rights and responsibilities for the child.
For the above reasons, many people do consider becoming adoptive parents to be the right path for them, but there are many more pros to this process, including:
- A permanent, loving family: This is the most beautiful pro to adopting a child, for both parties; the child who is up for adoption will be welcomed into a loving family, and will be nurtured and raised as the legal child of the adoptive parent/parents. They will have a permanent home without having to worry about moving between foster carers.
- A second chance: Again, for both the child and the parents involved, the adoption process offers a second chance.
For the child, who was either given up for adoption by the birth parents or removed from their biological parents, they are getting a second chance at being part of a loving family. They are safe in the knowledge that they are wanted and loved, and will be forever.
For the adoptive parent/parents, it also gives them a second shot at happiness; perhaps because they were unable to conceive naturally or because they are a same sex couple, whatever the reason, their new adoptive child gives them the family they’ve always wanted. A feeling of joy that is not comparable.
Fostering a child
Fostering a child is a completely different process to that of adoption; fostering can be short-term and part-time, perhaps for just a few days at a time, or more long-term and full-time. As well as this, you find that many children who are in need of a foster home have been through some bad experiences and you will need to support them through their development before they either return to their birth parents or find an adoptive family. As a foster carer , you will become part of a team that is looking out for the welfare of the child, including: social services, health care professionals, and education professionals.
There are many pros to fostering, including:
- Doing a good deed: It goes without saying that by fostering a child, for whatever length of time, you are doing a good turn. You are helping and supporting this child in their time of need, along with a team of professionals. Whatever their background, and whatever trauma they have experienced, you are helping them overcome this and assisting them in moving forward with their life and with their development. This creates an undeniable feeling of self-achievement; you’ve made a difference.
- No two children will be the same: The children that pass in and out of your care will never be the same as one another. They will have different personalities, different experiences, and different challenges and issues that they need your help to overcome. Each one will bring something different to your life and to your family; you can gain enormous satisfaction from each individual case.
If you are a first time adoptive parent looking for adoption guidance in Wales, then get in touch today so we can take you through the process.