What is the difference between fostering and adoption?

What is the difference between fostering and adoption?

As a fostering agency we get asked this question a lot so we thought it would be helpful to share on information on what the difference is between being a foster carer and adopting a child.

What is fostering?

Fostering is caring for someone else’s child in your own house to provide an opportunity for a child or young person to achieve the best possible outcomes.

A foster placement provides the stability and normality that is required for children and young people to develop and be looked after in a safe and secure environment. Fostering within a family is often the best way for them to feel protected, supported and start to gain a sense of their self-worth, and contribute to society.

What is adoption?

Adoption is the legal process by which a child or a group of siblings who cannot be brought up within their birth family become full, permanent and legal members of their new family. Adopters become the child’s legal parents with the same rights and responsibilities as if the child was born to them.

Adoption gives children a second chance of stability, permanence, and the love and nurture that all children need. The outcomes for adopted children are better than for those who stay in care. However, adoption is not a silver bullet. The trauma suffered in early childhood is carried with children into their adoptive families. Those families need consistent, specialist support to help them give their adopted children the best possible chance of a brighter future. *

If you would like more information about becoming a foster carer please contact us on enquiries@fairways.co

*Information from Adoption UK website. https://www.adoptionuk.org/about-modern-adoption