I adopted two school-age children 11 years ago. It's been a rough old ride, full of joys but also beset with many, many (many) difficulties. Particularly in the early years, I found these boards invaluable - they gave me a sense of community that was utterly lacking in my everyday life. I posted very little, but I came onto the forum every evening, when the children were (at last) asleep, and I read avidly; the posts were useful, funny, fascinating, heart-breaking and affirming. The more experience adopters (Pear Tree! Beloved Pear Tree!) felt like my wise aunties - I knew that others shared my problems, and sometimes they helped me towards solutions. What a resource!
As the years have passed, I've visited the boards less and less, but each visit has always felt worthwhile. I've seen the effect that various revamps have had on community users - every change feels like an affront, when this is the one space in which you can feel comfortable; nevertheless, each time, the forum has recovered and flourished. But now? Oh God, what a disaster - these boards have died. Would it really have been so difficult to ask the users what aspects of the forum were most important to them, and to ensure that those aspects continued smoothly? The years of accumulated wisdom, the wise aunties, the buzzing conversations have all gone. Adoption UK had a golden resource, and it has been ruined and I am astonished and horrified by the casualness with which this has happened.
