The following blog is from our partner agency Adoption Tees Valley.
As an adopted 17 year old I have two passions. The first is how important it is to keep brothers and sisters together. The second is the importance of an early forever placement.
At the age of 5, having waited for a family for a long time, I was almost separated from my brother. We both had additional needs for me it was a hearing impairment. After 2 years in Foster care some professionals felt it was the right step to separate us in the hope at least one of us found a family. This would have been a tragedy. My brother and I are full siblings, have experienced the same history and he was all I had in the world having lost my family, home, friends and much more. I can’t image how my life would have turned out if I was separated! Thankfully we were able to be adopted together.
My other passion is Early Permanence. By the time I went to live with my adopted family I had been cared for by 6 different family members or Foster carers, I had moved house 8 times and been to 4 different schools. I had no stability. Nowhere familiar. Lots of change.
As a family we are in the process of adopting a baby boy who has been with us since he was 4 days old. It’s been an amazing journey being a part of his life from the very beginning and giving him all of the consistency that I never had. We have lots of photos of him from 4 days old, my earliest is when I was over 2 years old. I’m so pleased he will never have the disrupted start I did. He won’t have to move between families, leave behind friends he has made etc. I can tell him when he first smiled, sat up, crawled, said mama and really belly laughed. I can’t think of a better start in life for him.
Could you be an Early Permanence carer?
If you’re unsure whether early permanence is for you – or have further questions, our social workers will be happy to help so please get in touch on 0800 652 6955 or complete the enquiry form opposite.
