The UK adoption process

ChatAdopt: Information Session

ChatAdopt is open to anyone looking into UK adoption, no matter where you are in your journey whether you’re just thinking about Adoption and wondering if it’s the right path for you. ChatAdopt gives you the opportunity to speak with some of our experienced adoptive parents and our friendly team to learn more about UK adoption.

Our ChatAdopt sessions give you a brief insight into the UK adoption journey and the process. It will give you the chance to learn more about Yorkshire Adoption Agency and what we provide to our families.  We keep the groups small to give you plenty of time to ask any questions.

This Step is optional. If you feel ready to start the process you can book straight onto an Initial Visit by completing the Start your Journey form.

Next session: Tuesday, 18th August 2026 at 7:00pm

Initial Visit

All agencies must follow the same detailed assessment process, including a number of required checks and an in-depth personal assessment, but we will support you every step of the way.

If you attended a ChatAdopt session we will contact you to arrange your Initial Visit.  If you don’t want to attend a ChatAdopt session and want to book an Initial Visit, please contact us.

The Initial Visit is when one of our team visit you at home to help you think about all the areas you need to consider before you decide whether to formally apply to be assessed as an adopter.

We will talk to you about adoption and answer any questions you may have.

We will also gather additional information from you at this meeting and if you are ready, share log in details for completing our Application.

Application

Once you recieve your login information at the end of your Initial Visit, you will be able to complete our online Application form. (Support to complete this form can be provided should we need to do things differently or adjust.)

The information you provide in this form along with your Initial Visit information is now considered by a team manager to ensure you are able to proceed to stage one.

There are only a few reasons why you may be unable to progress and the team manager will inform you if this is the case.

They may also advise you if you need to consider any other factors before progressing.

When you are ready you may start stage 1!

Stage 1

To start stage one, you will be asked to complete a stage one agreement with your social worker. This agreement and your completed Application form will be used to complete the checks listed below. Your social worker will guide you through the process and explain each step and/or check needed.  Some of the actions in stage one will include:

• obtaining references
  • statutory references – from your current and previous (if needed) local authority, probation, CAFCASS etc.
  • personal references from at least three referees you nominate
• completion of a medical
• completion of a DBS check
• some exploration with your social worker about topics, such as your finances
• attendance at least one training session, which could be attending our 3-day training or a shorter module
• starting your learning about adoption and adding this to a learning log as evidence
• completing a child observation with you and a child, ideally within your initial matching criteria age range.

All these checks need to be completed in stage one before you are able to move on to stage two.  Occasionally, there may be a reason why you are unable to progress to stage two. Should this be the case, your social worker will discuss this with you and explain why the Agency does not feel it is appropriate for you to continue your journey.

When all your checks are complete and you and your social worker are happy, they will recommend that you to move to stage two.

Stage 2

Stage two involves assessment sessions with your social worker to explore the areas needed to complete your Prospective Adopters Report (PAR).  This report covers all areas about you and your ability to become an adoptive parent.  Your social worker will ask lots of questions, but stage two gives you the opportunity to ask questions you are unsure of yourself too.  These meetings will be planned and there are on average 8-10 sessions.  If you are adopting as a couple, you will have some individual and some joint sessions. You and the social worker will explore your ability to look after a child in depth, as well as exploring the type of child or children that would suit you.

You will also need to attend any training sessions you may not have completed during stage one.

Your social worker will provisionally book you onto our adoption approval panel when completing the stage two agreement. Your social worker will write the PAR for panel, which will be shared with you to check the factual accuracy of the information before it is submitted.

For adoption approval panel, you will need to produce a learning log to evidence ongoing learning and reflections that you have completed during the process.  You will also need to produce a draft family book and video which could be shared with a child during the family finding and matching stage. Your social worker will always help in producing these for panel and if you are unsure, we encourage you to ask them for additional support.

The Adoption Approval Panel usually has 6 members, comprising of adopters, professionals, and social workers, some of whom are independent of the agency.  You will be invited to attend the panel alongside your social worker. The panel’s role is to consider all the information and make a recommendation about if you are suitable to adopt or not.   The Panel will have seen the report, learning log and draft family book, so will already know some information about you, but will ask you some additional questions on the day.

You will be made aware of the panel recommendation on the day.  The recommendation, PAR and panel minutes are then shared with our Agency Decision Maker, as they need to make the final decision for you to become an official approved adopter.

Once the Agency Decision Maker has considered the panel recommendation and made a decision, if positive you will be an approved adopter and move on to family finding.

Family Finding

It is hard to put a timeframe on family finding, as it is an individual process for each adopter and is dependent on their matching criteria. We pride ourselves on our ability to use our contacts to match adopters and children quickly and work hard to support you through this process.

As an agency, we can family find throughout the UK, although recognise the benefits that placing children from the local area with adopters can have for the child’s sense of identity and the practicalities during matching.

We work with you to think about the right child for you and what needs you could support.  We will have open discussions with you about the children you are considering and raise any worries with you, should we have any.  We pride ourselves in finding the ‘right’ family for the ‘right’ child.

There are children who wait longer because they are older, need to be placed with a brother or sister or have a disability or other challenge in their life.  We will explore with you whether you could consider these children.   Please see The children’s page for more information.

As soon as you are approved (and sometimes just before), we send your profile off to all the local authorities in the UK so they are able to see if they have a suitable match for you. We also sign you up to Link Maker. This is an online platform with profiles of children waiting for adoption. If you find a child or children on Link Maker that you feel is a good fit for you, you may share this with your social worker who will help you to consider the match.

Should you identify a child or children you want to progress with, you will receive additional information about them.  Your social worker will discuss this information with you to ensure you would be happy to proceed to the next step.  If you are in agreement to proceed, you will receive a visit from the child/ren’s social worker to exchange more information about yourself and the child/ren to ensure the match is the right one for everyone.  If there is agreement from all parties, you would progress to being matched.

Matching

Once everyone has agreed the match, you will be formally linked.  Again, the timeframe is individual for this stage, but it could be estimated to take around 8-12 weeks from the first point the match has agreed. Last year 80% of our adopters had a match within 6 months. Some matches can be quicker than these and some can take more time, dependant on the circumstances.

During this period, you will receive more detailed information about the child/ren and work with the professionals involved to consider the plan for the child/ren to join your family.  There can be many different meetings during this period to ensure you learn everything about the child/ren. You can also ask any questions you may have.  Sometimes, not everything is known about a child’s history or background. If this is the case, you will be told what is not known and what this may mean for the child.

Once you, your social worker, and the child/ren’s social workers are all happy that this is a good match, you will attend a matching panel held by the local authority with responsibility for the child. As with your adoption approval panel, you may be asked some questions and you will be given the outcome on the day. However, this needs to be formally agreed by the Agency Decision Maker (ADM).

Should the match be formally agreed by all parties, the transition plan will begin with an agreed date for when your child will join your family.

Normally, you would slowly take over the child’s care at the foster carer’s house, with the amount of time you spend each day increasing. This gives your child the chance to slowly get used to you in an environment that is familiar to then. Then your child would visit your house more so that by the end of the transition period, they are spending all of their time with you in your home.

Settling

Once a child is placed with you, you will continue to receive support from Yorkshire Adoption Agency and the child/ren’s social worker.  This will involve regular visits which can be frequent at the beginning of this stage. If all parties involved are in agreement, this can become monthly.  You will also need to attend some meetings after your child joins your family.  Your social worker will support you through this stage and can offer additional support if needed.

You can apply for an adoption order after a child has been living with you for 10 weeks if all professionals are in agreement for this to happen.  This is a formal application and involves court reports by the social workers being provided to the court.  Should an adoption order be granted, it is at this point that you become a child or children’s’ legal parent/s.

Many courts offer a celebration hearing once an adoption order has been granted. This gives you, as a family, to visit the court, meet the judge and celebrate the granting of the order. Each court is different but it often involves lots of photographs, a chance to look around a court room and a certificate for the children.

Support

We offer support to all our adopters throughout all stages of their journey.  As a minimum after an order is granted, we check in every 3 months to see if there is any support you may need.  If all goes well, after 12 months we will stop checking in, but you can make contact with the Agency at any time for support.  We offer life long support, meaning we can offer support anytime up until your child becomes an adult.

We also offer informal support through our regular family events, newsletters and updates about training.  As an adopter, you can access our training throughout your journey so if you ever feel you would benefit from reattending a session, this can be arranged.

We can also offer post adoption support for more specific issues or challenges you may be facing. You are entitled to an assessment for funding from the Adoption Support Fund for any therapeutic needs your child may have. This assessment must be undertaken by a Regional Adoption Agency but we would support you through the process.