Adoption is a legal process which fully transfers Parental Responsibility from the child’s birth parents to their adoptive parents. There are other forms of permanence for children, which you may hear of, including Long Term Fostering and Special Guardianship which are slightly different to adoption and do not give full Parental Responsibility for the child. When the child (ren) is settled with the prospective adoptive parent(s) an Adoption Order is granted by a court. Adoption is a lifetime commitment and once an Adoption Order is made it cannot be revoked. Adoption is a way of providing the security, permanency and the love of a new family when it is not possible for a child to be raised by his/her birth parents or within the birth family.
