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Have you approached a voluntary agency? They may npbe more welcoming. Stress you are looking for a child over 5 with additional needs too

Sounds like they are looking for reasons to say no, as they do not have enough children to place. I would try another agency.

Thank you for your replies, we are going to look at some VA's and see what they have to say.

Our LA turned us down when we wanted to adopt a second time as we wanted to another child with complex medical and physical needs their excuse was that they did not have the expertise in children like our AS. So we went to VA and they were excellent and when it came to finding a child we were overwhelmed by profiles because SW's said we had the right experience and knowledge to look after their children they wanted to place! It was hard to choose who was going to be our new lo as they were all gorgeous! We now have a lovely Ad who is different to our As but that is how it would have been if I had given birth to them! You have lots of experience and there is loads of children with addional needs out there so please look at VA xxx

Definately approach a VA. If you are willing to adopt an older child with special needs, you should be being snapped up NOT discouraged. I promise you that unless your first child's needs are so high that you as a family couldn't cope with another, then there is no reason why another agency wouldn't accept you. I usually encourage people to go with LA when they are looking for a young child but if you are interested in an older child, VA might be better anyway. If you haven't already found a VA, have a look at Adoptors for Adoption. They have been set up by people who have adopted themselves or who are adopted and they focus a lot on support needs that families may need. http://www.adoptersforadoption.com/

Hi We have adopted twice and our first child has FASD . This was diagnosed at the time and we had no issues whatsoever. It was highlighted as a positive in our report with our ability to deal with this and to have put supporting measures in place. We just had to show what additional work we would do with our daughter to minimise any transition issues. I would agree with the others that it seems that they are just making excuses.

I hope you are getting somewhere as I see its been a while since you posted. I would echo what the others have said - don't give up! There are lots of other LAs or certainly VAs that would snap your hand off.

Hi sorry I haven't been on here for a while, Thank you for all your replies. We have contacted a VA and been accepted. We already have a panel date and all checks are done. Just working our way through the home study part :), I can't believe how fast things are moving, makes me wonder why we ever went with our LA at all !

That's great news Pam

Fantastic news! So pleased things are moving along for you. Looking forward to reading your 'approved' message :-)

Thank you everyone for all your advice, we have now been approved to adopt again !! I can't believe how fast a VA has worked and we are very excited :)

Congratulations. That's great news.

Yay brilliant news and there will a very lucky child to have you xxxx

Thank you xx

Just thought I'd update on here, We were matched earlier this year and have had our little one home for almost 6 weeks. Everything is going great so far. I can't believe we almost gave up on having a second child :)

That's brilliant Pam75 We too adopted twice, older kids, older child has dyspraxia but it was never an issue and LA moved fast enough when we applied for a second child, as they had a child they needed placed !! Best Wishes with your new expanded family. Pingu

Thanks for updating pam75, I sometimes wonder how things ended up when I read posts. it's nice to hear how things panned in the end

That's fantastic. We adopted two boys both with disabilities and we would definitely do it again. Thanks for keeping me hopeful about the future. Oh and congratulations xxxx

Hi Pam75 Congratulations ! Can I ask how old was your first child when you approached LA for 2nd adoption? and how long was it after placement? We have an almost 2 year old and placement was 16 months ago. We would like to go for round 2 so that the children would grow up together but are worried we'd be turned down too. AS has GDD and Kidney issues.