Dr John Simmonds OBE, Director of Policy, Research and Development at CoramBAAF, which represents professionals in adoption and fostering, said:
“Adoption provides a loving, secure and lifelong family for children who cannot be cared for by their birth parents or family. Where children have been abused and neglected, it might be thought of as providing protective recovery by the adoptive parents alongside the richness of creating an adoptive family life that most children experience who are not adopted.
The survey undertaken by Adoption UK and reported by the BBC raises the important need for proactive support to enable developmental recovery for children who are adopted and their adoptive parents. We are heartened that the survey demonstrates the joy of adoption with nine out of ten respondents in Adoption UK’s survey saying that they were glad they adopted.
From the many professionals that CoramBAAF works with, we are all too aware of the challenges that children and their adopted families face resulting from the many risks that early traumatic experiences create for the child.
The availability of the Adoption Support Fund over the last few years has been a very positive development in providing therapeutic help for many families. There are many reports from families of their positive experiences from the services they have received. We believe that the Fund needs to build on its achievements to date to ensure that there continue to be an evidence informed, comprehensive and responsive set of services available that address the wide spectrum of challenges that adopted children and their families face.
We are also committed to ensuring that there continues to be a balance between the enormous benefits that adoption brings to children and their adopters and the risks that can emerge along the way. The development and use of adoption as a public policy response for a group of highly vulnerable children cannot be underestimated. And that needs to continue and be responsive to the challenge and reality of the messages that adopters are currently telling us.”