“We first considered adoption because we really wanted a child and as a same-sex male couple it was the only option available to us. We didn’t want to consider surrogacy so we looked online at adoption.
The Manchester City Council website pointed us in the direction of Adoption Counts. They are the local adoption agency who cover where we live and so we began the adoption process with them.
There is no getting away from the fact that the process is long, sometimes tedious and definitely intrusive. Be prepared to put in the work. There is a lot of paperwork to complete.
However, we felt very supported by our social worker throughout. Also, Adoption Counts provides lots of extra services such as top-up training sessions so we felt very informed about the whole process and adoption in general.
The hardest parts for us were the periods of time when we were just waiting, such as waiting for statutory checks to come through or waiting to be matched with a child. It’s all out of your hands and all you can do is wait and hope.
We found it helpful to meet other adopters. We all supported each other and knew that we were all going through the same things at roughly the same time.
But the best part of our story - the best part of any adoption story - is being matched with your child and finally being able to bring them home.
Our life has a lot more routine now. We now plan our lives around naps, meals and bed times, spending our time in parks, farms, and swimming pools. Leisurely meals in a restaurant or a drink in the pub are a lot less frequent. But we wouldn’t change a thing.”
