Can I adopt or foster if I have had fertility treatment?
When is the right time to think about adoption or fostering if fertility treatment hasn't worked?
Agencies usually recommend that you wait for at least 6 to 12 months after ending fertility treatment (e.g. techniques such as in vitro fertilisation [IVF]) before applying to adopt or permanently foster. You are likely to have been through a difficult and emotional experience and, while you are still dealing with the feelings caused by unsuccessful fertility treatment, you may not be able to give adoption and fostering the careful consideration they need.
The recommended 6 to 12-month period is to allow you time to mourn the birth children you are not going to have. You, and your partner if you have one, may also decide to have some form of therapy or counselling.
Adoption and fostering agencies do not usually assess prospective adopters and foster carers who are involved in ongoing fertility treatment. This is because it can be difficult to pursue two different routes to parenting at the same time.
Almost every adopted or fostered child will have particular emotional needs as a result of having to leave their birth family. Even if you decide that adoption or permanent fostering is not right for you at this time in your life, you can consider it at another time.
For some people , permanent fostering may be a particularly good route to caring for a child; for example, couples marrying or remarrying later in life, who may be overlooked by adoption agencies, but certainly could still permanently foster.
However, others may be very keen to adopt as it is a lifelong commitment that ensures that the child is legally and permanently part of your family, as if they were born into it.
What next?
- Read about the difference between adoption and fostering
- Take our adoption and fostering quiz
Last updated: 25 May 10
