Cause for celebration
At some point in the adoption process, you’re going to hear the words ‘adoption day’: this is just an informal way of talking about the day you go to court to have an ‘adoption order’ granted, which will happen after you have been matched with a child, and after they have had some time to settle in with you and their new home and area.
In England and Wales, an adoption order cannot be applied for until a child has lived with his or her adoptive parents, continuously, for at least ten weeks, while, in Northern Ireland and Scotland, it cannot be made by the court for 13 weeks. In reality, most families have the order granted around nine to 12 months after the child moves in.
The court gets involved because adoption is a legal process. Usually families are invited to court for the ‘official’ bit, when the order is granted, but it can also go ahead without them with direction from the court, especially if the birth parents are going to be present or there are legal complications. If this is the case, the adoptive family will only go to court afterwards for a ‘celebration day’, when a ceremonial document is handed over instead of a formal order. Read about how things unfold in Judge Plumstead’s courtroom.
Whichever way it happens, once a judge grants the adoption order, the adoption is official and permanent, and you are the child’s legal parent – which is why it is cause for celebration! Complete parental responsibility is given to you, as if the child was born into your family – they even take your surname.
So although the adoption hearing is brief, what it represents is huge. Some families choose to honour the occasion in years to come, much like a birthday. A lot of adopters in the US call it ‘gotcha day’. There are special balloons, posters, t-shirts and even coffee mugs that you can buy online! Some might see this as a little over the top, but many adopters in the UK now want to mark the moment too. Others feel strongly that doing so isn’t right for them. Find out how other adopters have decided to celebrate the day - or not...
You may be reading this feature at the very start of the process – in which case, the adoption day will seem a long way away! But thinking about it might give you the strength and resolve to leap over any hurdles in your journey to get there. Best of luck!
Sophie Offord, Deputy Editor
Originally published in the Be My Parent newspaper in March 2010.
This article is published with the kind permission of the people involved. You may download it for your own reference but if you wish to use it for any other purpose, please contact Be My Parent for authorisation: Be My Parent, BAAF, Saffron House, 6-10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS. Telephone: 020 7421 2666.
Our website contains lots of information on the adoption process, including the adoption order - we hope you find this helpful!
Last updated: 30 April 10
