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They may ask how you will deal with sexuality and identity. I quoted stonewalls work with primary schools on different families, talked about my varied support network and who could be role models depending on the gender of my child.

Hi alice congrats on starting home study. We have found it draining sometimes but are loving it. We have 3 meetings left then get panel date yikes. Were from the north east and must say our local authority has been fantastic . Good luck on your journey . Sarah x

Hi My partner and I were approved a few weeks ago. The assessment process is emotionally fairly hard going but the more you put into it the more you'll get out of it. Be honest and read as much as you can. Our panel was made up of 8 and each asked their own questions, how we found the process, safety within our home, how we'd help our child with finding birth parent. There's nothing in the questions that you wont have already discussed a million times with each other and your social worker. Good luck.

Thanks for your comments. We are loving home study and learning alot from this whole experience. We have 2 hs left then await panel date.

I'm single and got asked several times throughout the process how I'm going to ensure LO has positive male role models in her life. I imagine this might be a similar theme for lesbian couples.

Hi, We are also a lesbian couple in S Yorks who as soon as my partners police check arrived will be signed off for stage 1. Hard not to get frustrated as mine came back a week ago .But nothing we can do but wait. We enjoyed our first training days but mainly meeting other couples who we have seen again at some of the parent support groups since. Would be nice to chat with other same sex couples about the process and post placement as can't seem to find much in our local area. All been positive so far but early days...2catsmothers

Thank you all for your comments. I thought i would give a more detailed comment about our journey so far. I called our local authority in march to dicuss adoption. I got a call back that lasted an hour. I was put at ease and fell in love with our local authority. Time came for our first home study(may). This lasted a good 3.5 hours and again sexuality didnt stop this social worker being amazing to us. We were immediatly on the spot invited to attend a preperation course. The course started in june. I said to my partner that things felt really slow and that they wernt moving too fast.1st day of prep and omg im ill with nerves .there was 8 couples and all nervous. We all got on straight away and even though the course was only 4 days we have made some good friends. In fact one of the couples lives a couple of streets away and now regually see them. We want a child aged 0-3 younger the better with very little additional needs. Im taking adoption leave with full pay for first 26 weeks then adoption pay for 13 weeks. Prep course finished in july and then boom things started rolling. Medicals and crb checks had to be done. We are lucky as our LA pays for medicals ao we havnt had to pay for anything. home study began in july and we have 6 meetings We have become close with our social worker and have 2 meetings left. One next week and then november. I thougt it would be a good distraction in may to plan our civil partnership oh was i wrong lol never again. Were hoping to be at panel in january and as my birthday is in jan an approval would be the best 30th birthday present .advice i would offer is the more you put in the more you will get out of it. Its hard work and does drian you. It will also test your relationship but it has veen worth every tear.

Hi Sarah, It's really good to hear you've had a good experience with your journey so far! I'm Stuart, myself and partner have finished our home study and have just been to panel. The questions we were asked involved: How will you explain to the child about having two dads? How will you support the child if they face bullying about their same sex family? And things of that nature. Our answers focused on utilizing our support networks, equipping the child with the confidence and knowledge to confront problems in an assertive way. We also talked about how there are many female influences in our life, such as my sister and mum who will be able to provide love and support to the child. I hope some of that helps, facing panel really wasn't a bad experience- just a little nerve racking. I just reminded myself that a qualified social worker already thought we were suitable parents, and that's more than most biological parents could say? Good luck! I'm sure you'll be fine.