The question of whether to adopt or foster a child may arise in a couple who cannot conceive a biological child but who want to experience parenting. Or, perhaps, an older couple is struggling with empty nest syndrome. Some people have children of their own but feel that they have enough to share with a child in need of care. We look at the conundrum of fostering versus adoption.
Where is Demand the Highest?
There are many more children waiting in line for foster care than what there are children available for adoption. Of the total 75,000 children in care in the United Kingdom, there are 6,800 that are seeking a foster home. On the other hand, the number of children available in any year for adoption is 6,000 on average. For the sake of comparison, this is 53% foster children versus 47% children ready for adoption. These figures are not that far apart percentagewise, but in figures, there are 800 more children not finding foster homes than those that can be adopted.
Length of Time
Once you complete the approval process to foster, you will be quickly matched with a child or children. For various reasons, it takes longer to adopt a child than to become a foster carer. Adopting a foster child already in your care will take between nine and eighteen months, provided the child’s long-term plan is to be adopted. Many foster children’s biological parents are trying to get their lives in order to be reunited with their families.
Paying versus Being Paid
The cost to adopt a child varies since there may be medical checks from your GP and police checks in order to complete the application process, but there is no fee charged by adoption agencies for going through the process. Foster carers get paid a weekly amount to cover the care of the foster child, a professional fee, and other benefits. Visit ispfostering.org.uk to find out more about the allowances a foster carer receives. Once you adopt a child it is no different from having a biological child and you will not be paid.
Long-Term Commitment
Adoption is a lifelong commitment to a child. A foster carer’s duties, even in long-term care, end when the child turns 18 years of age, although both parties can choose mutually to keep the relationship going. In this instance, the court would have made a ‘Full Care Order’ that is valid up to the child’s 18th birthday. Short-term fostering may be as short as overnight, or a few weeks or months. This is dependent on how a court rules and when the biological parents are deemed ready to resume caring for their own children.
Is it Possible to Adopt a Child That You Foster?
It’s not always possible to adopt a child you foster, although some foster parents do if it’s considered the best outcome for the child. In most cases, agencies work towards getting the parents ready to take back their biological child, or ensure they are placed with a suitable long-term foster family. However, there are some things to bear in mind if you want to adopt your foster child.
Firstly, fostering and adoption are two separate processes, and you will have to go through both. Secondly, unlike with a direct adoption, the biological parents may have already met you. Additionally, the biological parents may try to re-establish contact with their child. Thirdly, fostering for adoption is a dual process where a child that is looking to be adopted is placed with foster parents pending the outcome of their approval to adopt.
It is not a simple question, and you should take time to think and discuss the pros and cons of each before making a decision.
