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Sorry but i not sure who told you this babies are like gold dust as a foster carer myslef the sw usually take so long to get there butts into gear that the chikdren are usually 2 before anything starts happining And if the baby is white the list of afopters who will be waiting for this child is as long as string many white adopters get turned anway becacuse there simply are not very many babies If you want to adopt this baby i would keep quiet then once the child has been in placement for a year put the feelers out weather the LA will support you if not you can apply to the court fostering network will be able to help you with that yourself but you Will hae to foot the bill But on the whole LAs are very aginst fc adopting Sorry most likey. Not what yu want to here

Some LAs are quite happy for FCs to adopt others don't like it. Have you heard of other FCs in your LA adopting?I do think that your age might be an issue. As has been mentioned once you have had him a year you have the legal right to apply to the court to adopt.

I assume you mean adopters who may want this particular baby with all the uncertainties he comes with? I guess all you can do is ask. I wouldn't leave it till the 12 months mark. By that time family finding should be well underway and it would be awfully hard on a prospective adopter if you threw a spanner in the works at that stage.If he is going to be classed as difficult to place then Ss may support you. Not sure that they'd take much notice of birth family views tbh.The one other thing I'd say, how would you manage continuing birth family contact/interference? It's one thing as an FCC, possibly different as a parent?

there are other options like special guardianship as well but again child needs to have been placed with you for a year before you can apply, but with sgo you usually continue with teh fostering allowance (I think) though it might be means tested against things like tax credits. your age might count against you for adoption but sgo might be seen as a lesser order so possibly easier to obtain. certainly quicker, though you do have some limits on parental responsibility and cant change childs name (surname) and contact is expected to be maintained with birth family.

Dontella if she tells her sw of her feelings now they may move the baby I known of this to happen sw have got wind and moved the child or the family finding has gone into to overdrive Personally i think its sad it has to be done this way but at least if she waits if la dont support she can get legal support and there can be a block on moving the child

I have been told that because of this babys uncertain future it will be harder to find adopters in fact there seems to be a shortage locally, 4 children to 1 prospective adopter! I have heard this from more than one reliable source.The SW originally mentioned this as both mum and grandparent have asked if I could keep him, initially I said that I couldn't, believing it impossible but after talking to friends and family I do believe I could be a good option for this baby if no better family is found, the SW knows that I am now open to a long term plan. I wouldn't want to stop a positive move for him that would be selfish, but I would certainly wish to be considered if nothing better is found. I would consider SGO despite its problems as I have already decided that I would adopt if that was the best outcome for us both.Trouble is my agency is not supportive, I am trying to leave as they do not consider my needs or requests when matching, they consider me to old too.I love my job, my family are long lived and healthy into their 90 and even 100s and I have a large younger family who would very much be involved in YP's life. ie my sons and their cousins woud be happy to take him as a teen camping and on holidays etc if I ever grow out of it which isn't looking likely at the moment.C

The sw of my current littlie (a little younger than your fosterling) has asks me several times if i would adopt babe, like yours the future is a little uncertain - probably will have issues, but i have said no to adopting again but would ltf.There has been quite a few foster carers adopting their little ones over the last few years in my la (some healthy babies but most with additional needs, some with ss support, some not) One around your age with a healthy baby, no additional needs. So it does happen, you don't have to have the child for a year if ss support the plan but it will have to a year without their support. My little man was back living with me for 3 months when i applied to adopt him, but he had previously lived with me for 15 months a year before, also mum and nan requested i adopt him and this did carry some weight. ss supported my application and it took 8 months to go through.(several years ago)Only you know how you truely feel about this baby and if you feel you are the best person to parent babe then go for it, they obviously can say no and you will have to demonstrate that if a family is identified for babe that you can work with the new parents during introductions. I guess they may move babe if they feel you couldn't do this but I haven't had experiance of this happening and I do know of several foster carers who have been rejected for adopting fosterling and gone on to work with new adopters, so fingers crossed it wont happen but it sounds like it is a possibility.The numbers of children to every potential adopter is also currently about 4 to 1 here and there are very few applications to adopt coming through at the moment, so i am not holding my breath that a family for my littlest fosterling will be identified any time soon, with is so sad.Good luck with whatever you decide to do and I hope it works out well. bm.

Should have also said, I would first speak to the childs sw to ask if she will support you application if you decide to go for it, then application needs to be in writing to the head of the adoption team for the childs la (if it is different to yours)When you speak to the sw you could also speak to her about other options such as long term fostering (you keep your allowance, support of ss, parents have contact etc) or special guardianship (you also keep allowance at current rate minus child benefit/tax credits, which you also receive, no ss involvement, minimal contacts usually, you have more pr than parents, so make most decisions for child like schooling, holidays hair cuts etc)In both cases child keeps their name and the child is not recognised as yours where as with adoption baby IS yours. Would love to know how it all goes for you, bm.

HelloWe are in process of attempting to adopt our lo.In the beginning when we initially approached ss, they were not particularly positive about the idea of us as fc adopting, however after permenancy was officially agreed (and lo was well over a year old) we approached lo's sw who has been very supportive, and we now awaiting approval to be adopters :-)We did have to put our intentions in writing to our la. I did make it perfectly clear to them that lo's best interests came first, and that if we were not successful we would still work with prospective adopters, as I was worried that lo would be moved to other fc, if our application was not successful.Please let us know how you get on!

I think I know that a young family who can provide him with younger brothers and sister might be the best option for him, I can offer him big brothers and lots of cousins.I would work with any matched adopters as I have in the past, I want what is best for him and if he is to move it is best I work well with new family. What worries me is if a good match is not found then what, if I was offered LT of SG I would accept but wonder how likely this would be with the costs involved.I also worry about my agency not backing me or trying to block it. I was looking at a LT recently and I knew childs the SW was hoping for adoption or SG, in the past I wouldn't have gone down this route but things have changed and I now would be in a position to do this so said so, my SW jumped in and said that wasn't a good idea, she pointed out that I wouldn't have her support, I have my own much more practical support which I could access if I wasn't fostering but they dont want to know this.Its a mine field I really dont know how to go about this. C

we are adopting a little 1 ,been here for a long time.hubby is 54 ,im 50 next year,the 1 thing we found out that when you send you letter of intent, it has to go to the adoption team in the area you live,not the childs if its not the same borough. we are in court atm and they spent a whole day arguing over wether our application was legal or not,i would say if you think this little 1 should stay with you,then wait to the week ,you will have had the little 1 a year.it freezes the placement so they cannot remove the child until your application has gone through..x