Stoke On Trent Adoption Team

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has many children in need of adoptive families. Could you adopt?

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has many children in need of adoptive families. Many of these children will have had very difficult experiences before coming into care and need adoptive families who can care for them throughout their childhood and beyond.

Children who need adoption
There are many children who need adopting, from toddlers to much older children. There are boys, girls and sibling groups. These children may have experienced neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, or many house moves. Some children may have disabilities or may have behavioural difficulties due to their early life experiences.

Are YOU able to adopt a child?
A family can be a single parent or a couple. Couples can be married or unmarried. We normally expect you will have been together for at least two years but the important thing will be that the relationship is stable. We do not want children to experience more disruption in their lives.
By law you must be at least 21 to adopt but there is no specific upper age limit. We do have to look at any factors that might limit an applicant’s life expectancy and the ability to care for a child through to adulthood.
Applicants can be either gender and from any sexual orientation. We welcome people from any ethnic background or culture and from any or no religious persuasion.

Could you adopt?
You do not have to own your own home, be in employment or have a high income to adopt but you need to think about the financial implications of increasing the size of your family. Your home must be suitable for the number and ages of children you are hoping to adopt.
If you already have a child or children, we ask that the youngest child be at least two years older than the age range you are applying to adopt. The majority of children available for adoption are over the age of one.
People with a medical condition or disability can adopt so long as this does not prevent them from caring for a child. Again, we will be looking at the ability to care for a child through to adulthood. Before we place a child an adopter would need to be a non-smoker and have stopped smoking for at least 12 months, including e-cigarettes. We ask that any fertility tests and treatments have been completed six to nine months before a registration of interest in adoption is accepted.
We cannot accept applications where the prospective adopter or any adult member of the household has been cautioned for or convicted of certain offences against a child. It is important that you tell us about any cautions or convictions so that we can consider this.
The support of family and friends is essential as adoption will involve not just the adopters but those closest to them as well.

If you think that you could adopt a child call us to discuss adoption on 01782 235020.