Adopting

I'm waiting for you

Whether you are thinking about adopting a child or have already adopted, this page will give you lots of advice and information.

Find out more about adopting in Barnet

Adoption information evening

Want to find out more about adopting a child? Then come along to our adoption information evening. You will learn about the adoption process, the types of children who need adopting and have chance to chat to members of our adoption team as well as someone who has already adopted through Barnet. If you would like to attend please contact us using the details on the left.

  • Tuesday 21 February 2012
  • 6.30pm – 8.30pm
  • Barnet House, Whetstone, 1255 High Road, N20 0EJ (Location details)

Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender (LGBT) Adoption and Fostering Event

The North London Adoption and Fostering Consortium is organising an information session on Tuesday 21 February at Ku Bar, in the heart of Soho, between 5.30pm-7.30pm. This event coincides with national LGBT Adoption and Fostering week (20-26 February) and will give anyone thinking about adoption or fostering the chance to find out more about the process of becoming an adoptive parent or foster carer. Gay and lesbian adoptive parents and foster carers will be present to talk about their experiences, and guests will have the opportunity to have an informal chat with social workers.

To find out more and book your place, please visit their website.

Information about adopting in Barnet

When you adopt a child, it means that you take on a legal responsibility for that child permanently. The rights and responsibilities of the ‘birth’ parents, or anyone else who has parental responsibility, are transferred to you by a court.

To access a copy of the most recent adoption and fostering inspection report please go to the Ofsted website. Barnet is part of the North London Adoption Consortium, working with Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington to improve our adopters' and children's opportunities in adoption.

Becoming an adopter

We welcome interest from anybody regardless of your race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or any disabilities you may have. We are looking for people who can give a child a loving family environment throughout their childhood and beyond. This is the most important thing.

We are particularly interested in hearing from people who are interested in adopting:

  • children who are of African, Caribbean, and of mixed heritage background
  • older children who have had an unsettled early life
  • brothers and sisters who need to be kept together
  • children with disabilities
  • children from a variety of religious, cultural and ethnic backgrounds to reflect the children's heritage.

If you would like to find out more about adoption please contact the Adoption Team, details in the contact box opposite, and we will send you an information pack.

Adoption support

Barnet recognises that adoption is a lifelong process which affects individuals and families through their life.

The adoption support service is part of the adoption team. The following people can seek support from the service:

  • adoptive parents
  • an adoptive child
  • the birth child of an adoptive parent
  • a birth parent or relative of an adopted child or any other person with whom the child has had an important relationship.

Adoption support is provided by the local authority who place the child for adoption up to three years after the Adoption Order. After this, it is the responsibility of the borough in which you live.

Adoption support can involve:

  • advice and counselling
  • assessments of support needs
  • direct work with individuals and families
  • workshops and training on specific issues
  • opportunities to meet other adoptive families
  • support with contact between adoptive families and birth families.

Adopted adults

There are a variety of services available to people who have been adopted. Your first point of call can be the Barnet Adoption Team. If you have any questions or queries regarding adoption then contact us using the details in the menu on the left.

You can also contact the Post Adoption Centre, which has an outreach service based in Barnet.

There is also a website and advice line specifically for people under 26, who have been affected by adoption.

Tracing your birth family

Once people who have been adopted reach 18 they are legally entitled to have access to their adoption file and trace their birth family. The first step is to get a copy of your original birth certificate, you can either contact us first to discuss this or go ahead and apply. The steps to apply for your birth certificate are set out below.

If you are under 18 and would like to trace your birth family, then you can still contact the adoption team and we will discuss your options with you and your family. To get a copy of your original birth certificate and access to your birth records you need to contact the General Register Office (GRO)

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When you contact the GRO you must state whether you were adopted before or after 12 November 1975 – if you were adopted after 11 November 1975 then you will have the option of the information being sent to you directly or to an adoption worker.

If you were adopted before this date then the information will only be sent to an adoption agency, in other words, the Barnet Adoption Team. If you have opted for information from the GRO to be sent to your local authority, we will contact you and invite you in to help get a copy of your birth certificate and answer any questions.

This can be called Section 51 Counselling. If you receive the information yourself then you can still contact us to support you with the next steps.Once you have your birth certificate a good way of finding out more about your birth family is by reading your adoption file.

You can contact Barnet adoption team to access your file if:

  • you know you were adopted through the London Borough of Barnet, regardless of where you are living now, or
  • you are an adopted person living in Barnet and do not know which agency was involved.

If you fall into one of these categories contact the Adoption Team on the details in the menu on the left. In order for us to help you it is really useful if you can give us as much information as possible so we can attempt to locate your file, this includes:

  • your full adopted name
  • your date of birth
  • your birth name
  • your birth mother's name   
  • when you were adopted
  • where you were adopted.

Once we have this information, or as much as you know the following can happen:

  • if we have your file in our archive we will go through the file and remove any third party information e.g. any information not directly about you. We will then contact you and invite you into our office to go through your file with you. We will be there to support you and answer any questions you may have about the adoption process and what you have read in your file
  • if we do not have your file then you will need to use one of the forms the General Register Office sent you when you applied for your birth certificate. This form will have the name of the court tin which your adoption took place in. By sending off this form the court may be able to tell you which agency has your file
  • if you know which agency dealt with your adoption then we can contact them on your behalf and they will send us information from your file and we will go through it with you.

Having read your file if you still want to trace your birth family we will offer a intermediary service. If we do not have a current address for a member of your birth family then you will need to trace them. We are able to support you to do this and can also give you information on agencies that perform searches for a fee.

Agencies that perform searches for a fee

NORCAP – Supporting Adults Affected by Adoption

After adoption

  • Head Office, Unit 5
    Citygate,
    5 Blantyre Street,
    Manchester, M15 4JJ
  • Tel: 0800 0568 578
  • Website: www.afteradoption.org.uk

Another method of searching for your birth family is by registering yourself on the Adoption Contact Register, for more information go to www.gro.gov.uk. If you are successful in searching for your birth family, either by yourself or through an agency we will act as an intermediary and contact your birth family on your behalf.

We will ensure that no identifying information is passed on until you are comfortable, and also provide your birth family with information on where they can access support in their area.

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Children, young people and families

email icon Email this pageLast modified by: Steve Lawlor on 20/01/2012


Contact

Adoption Team
North London Business Park (NLBP)
Oakleigh Road South
London
N11 1NP
Phone Number
020 8359 5705
Text Number (SMS)
07781 473279
Fax Number
0870 889 5933
Typetalk
18001 020 8359 5705
Email
adoption@barnet.gov.uk