Adopters Emma and Chris

Emma and Chris adopted their youngest daughter when she was two years old, welcoming her into the family as a little sister to their biological daughter, who was six at the time. Here, Emma shares a little about their family’s adoption journey. 

“We had been together for six years before becoming a family of three with the arrival of our daughter. The pregnancy was unfortunately complicated by some serious health challenges, but thankfully, we both came through it safely.

We always wanted to adopt somewhere along the line and knew we wanted our oldest to have a sibling. Due to the pregnancy, the plan was sooner than we thought!

Adoption Matters was the first agency we found, we didn’t actually contact any other agencies as we got an immediate response from them and the ball got rolling quick from that first email being sent, we just didn’t feel the need to continue the search.

We expressed interest and was greeted by the most loveliest social worker from Adoption Matters and everything was dealt with in a lovely compassionate manner.

Our social worker knew us very well and was on hand for any questions. She was really approachable which helped with being able to ask what we wanted.

Each stage seemed to last a long time, and can hold some uncertainty however, we felt we were reassured along the way. It wasn’t always easy and there were challenges that we faced with regards to matching.

It can be a difficult process to go through and to rationally think about how you can support the child can be a very hard thing to do.

We were matched with our youngest after a bit of time. It’s very hard to say how we knew it was right, we just knew!

We were involved every step of the way with introductions and meetings. Our oldest daughter also was involved in all the meetings/introductions that she could be involved with, which made transitions so much more easier.

We got so lucky that the foster carer, who had cared for our daughter before she became part of our family, was the most loveliest woman and just supported us all with the transitions. She gave us space when we needed it and helped when she felt we needed it to. We still have a great relationship with her and she is a huge part of our family.

Our social worker held a support training meeting with our wider family to help them understand adoption, the impact of early childhood trauma, and the ways they could support our daughter and us as a family.

This was extremely valuable and greatly improved their understanding of our adoption journey when she came home and we were navigating life as a family of four. It was great to have a family network to support us even for the simple things.

Adoption isn’t easy, however, it absolutely is the best thing we have ever done.

Both our girls are thriving and think the experience has supported them both positively.”

Thinking about adoption? Download our free adoption information guides to learn more about the adoption process, who can adopt, and the support Adoption Matters provides before, during and after adoption.