Public Forums

https://www.gov.uk/child-adoption

https://www.gov.uk/child-adoption/adopting-a-child-from-overseas

gives some information but likely to be complicated, lengthy and possibly expensive

Hi amyJgray - congratulations on your marriage! This does sound like a very complicated situation and you just need somewhere to start. I've got two suggestions.

One is the Intercountry Adoption Centre: https://www.icacentre.org.uk/

The other is a lawyer specialising in adoption law, who might be able to give you some initial advice: https://ridleyandhall.co.uk/our-team/nigel-priestley/

I would also suggest contacting the adoption team at your local authority, because in order to adopt at all as a UK citizen in the UK you will need to go through the adoption approval process.

Good luck!

Hi Amygray,

I have tried adopting from Egypt and was approved there, but it was very complicated process and very expensive in UK to adopt a child from abroad, therefore I advise you adopt from UK because it will be free and less complicated., unless you can afford it and willing to go through extensive process.

With regards to your spouse immigration status she must have (indefinite leave to remain ) before being allowed to adopt with you as a couple. I went through the same thing as my husband is Egyptian and I am British citizen and we were told by out local authority that he must have indefinite leave to remain. Your spouse will get it I think in couple of years depending on your situation.

I know someone who tried to adopt a family member from another country as a UK citizen from the UK and it would have been an extremely difficult and slow process. I guess the easiest route for you would be for your wife to remain in the US for the time being, adopt the child there and to then move with the child to the UK and have the adoption regonised here. However, I am not a lawyer and I have not adopted internationally, so I might be wrong.

You can find a lot of information on US adoptions on creatingafamily.org

I know of someone who tried to bring a child from Somalia they had already adopted. They were Somali themselves and adopted the child from an orphanage and went through all the correct procedures in that country but could not bring the child into the U.K. They tried for years. and meanwhile the child was in foster care. There are different requirements for different countries I believe. Also bear in mind your partner will not get indefinite leave to remain for a number of years - 5 I think (unless the situation is different for people coming from the US.) I think the first thing to do is find out the situation re adoption in the US which of course may be more complicated as you are married and intending to live in the U.K. You would presumably have to adopt in both countries unless you adopted in the US as a couple. One option would be for her to adopt in the US as a single person and then the child would apply with her as a family member and you could later adopt here to regularise your status as a parent. However if she has already got leave as a spouse that probably isn’t possible. The organisations listed above would be able to help - you have probably contacted them by now and are much clearer?