Adoption Week Scotland 2021 challenges misconceptions
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A host of events and webinars have been planned for this year's Adoption Week Scotland which has a new theme – The Current Face of Adoption. Organisers Adoption UK Scotland and Adoption and Fostering Alliance (AFA) Scotland aim to challenge misconceptions about adoption and celebrate how things have improved for adoptive families.
Topics covered include staying in contact with birth families and siblings, understanding early-years trauma, and current developments in therapeutic parenting. The event offers something for anyone involved in adoption, whether they’re adoptive parents, adopted people, or professionals working in family care.
Fiona Aitken, Adoption UK Scotland director, said: "We want to highlight the current issues and areas of importance for today’s adoptive families. Areas covered this year include the value of therapeutic parenting and engaging with children and families in a trauma-informed way, the importance of adoption support and services such as our TESSA and FASD Hub, and a focus on the importance of maintaining relationships.
"It’s crucial to recognise that adoption comes with the need to consider the life story of children and individuals involved, including the wider family relationships that child may have."
Robin Duncan, AFA Scotland director, said: "Adoption week is a great opportunity to highlight the way adoption now works and to challenge some of the misconceptions that hark back to practice from previous eras where adoption was often seen as demanding a clean break with the child’s past.
"There will be opportunities to hear about good examples of practice where children can maintain relationships with people who remain important to them."
Clare Haughey, minister for Children and Young People, said: "Adoption Week Scotland is our chance to say ‘thank you’ to all those involved and to celebrate the difference adoption is making to thousands of young people across Scotland.
One case study shows what the changes in adoption have meant to 10-year-old Kayden who was told by his new parents that his family was growing bigger, not smaller.
Kayden had been in the care of foster parents in Midlothian as his birth mother was unable to provide the care he needed. When Lee Robertshaw and Dale Briggs adopted him in 2016, they knew how important it was that his existing relationships were maintained, even though they live in Yorkshire.
So ever since the adoption, Lee and Dale have made sure that Kayden stays in touch with his foster family and his brother, who still lives with his gran in Scotland. The families exchange birthday and Christmas gifts, catch up on Facetime, and regularly spend holidays together – and the benefits to Kayden have been obvious.
"I think the most important thing has been that Kayden knows those people who he knew and loved in Scotland are still a part of his life," Lee explained.
The family also stays in contact with Kayden’s mother, seeing her once a year with hopes that this might become more regular in the future.
Contact with birth families and previous carers such as this would have been rare, if not impossible just a few decades ago, but has become increasingly common in recent years as adoption services have recognised how important prior relationships are to adopted children.
A recent Adoption Barometer report found that 28 per cent of children who did not have formal contact arrangements in place had contacted their birth family informally, which can lead to devastating impacts on their mental health and family stability.
Adoption Week Scotland 2021 runs from November 15-19. To find out what’s on, visit the full programme of events at https://adoption.scot/adoption-week-2021
