Adoption offers the child a legally permanent relationship with the adoptive parent which they will have all of his/her life. It means that the resident birth parent and their partner will share parental responsibility for the child. There is no automatic right to adoption, and it is not appropriate for every child in stepfamilies. The court’s decision is made based on the best interest of the child.

The local authority where the child resides is normally responsible for the assessment of every family that proposes a non-agency adoption and prepares a report for the court of their findings. A social worker will make several visits to a family and complete various check. In your area the local authority commissions Adoption@Heart to undertake this work.

An adoption order severs the legal relationship between the child and the non-resident birth parent.