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Welcome to the boards...love your username!I am not single although I know a fair few single adopters who are brilliant mums!I can't really comment on your questions but did just want to say hello back!Best wishes to youLarstiPS have a good trawl through the boards there is so much info on here!

Hello and welcomeI'm single mum to the gorgeous Simba who is 9 and has autism and learning difficulties. There are quite a few of us about - check out the single adopters boards.The best advice I could give you at this stage is to choose your agency carefully. Some are more 'single friendly' than others. Shop around - see who you feel comfortable with.Be prepared for lots of intrusive questions, why you are considering adoption instead of birth children. Why when you are relatively young arent you waiting for Mr Right. What happens if Mr Right comes along when you have adopted. How will you support a child. whats your support network like. Social workers will want to know all about these things.Start planning for your adoption leave now, how will you fund it? how long can you take off work.You might find yourself quite popular if you are interested in a special needs child, even more so, if you up your age range a little to 5+. These children are considered hard to place.It is a stressful process, you have to find your own way of coping, I set myself other goals outside adoption eg run a half marathon, so I had something else to focus on. Lots of chocolare and the odd glass of wine came in quite handy tooGood luck. Adoption is tough, particularly as a singly but I wouldn't change my Simba for the world

Hello, thank you for the replies. Defiantly, will look into a older child. Ive just come to that time in my life where everything is stable and i can open my home and heart to a child. As i said this is something i knew ive always wanted. Ive got books out and preparing myself for it to be intense. Though, in Kent i think there is little choice on adoption agencies so far all ive come across is KCC or Barnados, I contacted Action for Children but they dont cover my area. I will have a look on some of the boards for advice and see what everyone ones experiences have been like. Its always good to know that its possible to adopt on my own, i was getting worried that this will be the furthest i get. Well fingers crossed. How long did it all take for your to adopt Simba?

How long does it take is a how long is a piece of string question.I know there are new guidlines re assessment process but all sorts of things can get in the way. For example I changed jobs in the middle of my assessment. It meant a 4 month delay but it was worth it because I went to a job with much better terms and condition and salary which put me in a much stronger position.I took a long time to get approved. I left my LA after I'd been through prep and most of home study after a massive blow up in which it became apparent they didnt really like single adopters that much. So I had to start again from scratch. Hence my advice to shop around. Shame about Action for Children as thats who I ended up with and they have been wonderful. You can contact neighbouring LAs, not just your own though.I found Simba four months after approval, I think I'm jinked because it then took his LA 5 flipping months to come out and see me but then my feet didnt touch the ground and he was home in three months. Lots of people have much easier times than me. Some even manage to get through it all with a child home in a year. Just depends

Fair enough, I know! They looked like such a good organization too but they said i was in the wrong geographical area. Ive contacted Banardos and KCC (Im going to a information event at the end of the month)so i will have to see.I never thought about contacting other LA after being told im in the wrong place by Action for Children. Well, i hope it goes well. I will be so devastated if i cant progress.