Adoption

Adoption is a way of providing a new family for children who cannot be brought up by their birth families. It is a legal procedure in which parental responsibility is transferred to the adoptive parents. Once an adoption order is granted it can't be reversed. An adopted child loses all legal ties with their birth parents and becomes a full member of their new adoptive family.

It is now widely acknowledged that an 'open' rather than secretive attitude to adoption is most helpful to the child. Often there is an on-going exchange with the birth family of written information and sometimes photographs. This is called 'letterbox contact'. There may also be arrangements for children to have direct contact with various members of their birth family. This may include grandparents, brothers and sisters who may be placed elsewhere and occasionally birth parents.

To find out more about applying to adopt with Bristol City Council, view the information in Pages in this section or telephone 0117 353 4200.  

We urgently need more adopters who:

• live outside of Bristol within a 50-mile radius (for example Cheltenham, Weston-Super Mare, Swindon, Bath, Gloucester, Taunton)
• are black, dual heritage or from an ethnic minority
• are prepared to take sibling groups, older children and disabled children

Ofsted rated Bristol City Council's Adoption Service as "outstanding" in 2010.

What is the difference between fostering and adoption?

Foster carers share the responsibility for the child with a local authority and the child's parents. Fostering is usually a temporary arrangement, though sometimes foster care may be the plan until the child grows up.

Adoption is a way of providing a new family for children who cannot be brought up by their own parents. It's a legal procedure in which all the parental responsibility is transferred to the adopters.

Once an adoption order has been granted it can't be reversed except in extremely rare circumstances. An adopted child loses all legal ties with their first mother and father (the "birth parents") and becomes a full member of the new family, usually taking the family's name.