Press releases

The Madonna effect: children’s charity fears over public confusion

Issued: 6 November 2006

A GMTV survey released today by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) reveals the extent of public misconceptions about adoption. The charity is concerned UK children needing adoption will lose out as a result.

The poll of 1,000 people shows 74% wrongly think overseas adoption is easier than adopting a child from the UK. And 58% mistakenly believe British people adopt more children from abroad than from this country.

David Holmes, Chief Executive of BAAF, says:

“Overseas adoption has received so much attention over the past month and we believe this has distorted public perception. People think it’s common and easy. This is not true. There are fewer than 400 intercountry adoptions in the UK each year. You must go through the same rigorous assessment and approval process as you would if adopting a UK child, as well as complex negotiations with the country from which you want to adopt.

“And if people think it’s harder to adopt a child from this country than a child from elsewhere, they may not consider domestic adoption. This would be disastrous for the 4,000 vulnerable children needing adoption across the UK every year.”

The charity says all children separated from their birth families – whether in the UK or abroad – will need support and commitment to help them overcome the challenges they face.  For a child coming from overseas, for example, it is not always possible to get a full health history, so adopters can’t be sure what the outlook for their child will be.

Separate statistics released today by the charity illustrate the difficult early experiences of many children waiting for adoption here. The figures are from the Adoption Register for England and Wales, which matches children who tend to wait longer for adoption with approved adoptive families outside their geographical area. Of the 1,732 children who were referred to the Register between 1 October 2005 and 30 September 2006, 40% have experienced neglect, 23% have lived with parents with a history of drug or alcohol misuse and 14% have experienced physical violence. By way of contrast, 22% of children referred have no special needs.

David Holmes says: “These figures demonstrate the spectrum of children waiting. It’s often hard to predict the impact of traumatic early experiences, so it is no surprise that there is developmental delay or uncertainty for 27% of the children referred. These children all need permanent families who can help them recover from the reasons why they came into care. With the support of a stable and loving family, children can and do thrive. This is why adoption is so important – it works.”

The results are released at the start of National Adoption Week (6-12 November) – a UK-wide campaign that aims to help find families for children waiting to be adopted.

Ends

Notes to Editor

BAAF runs the Adoption Register on behalf of the DfES and the National Assembly for Wales. For more information, please visit www.adoptionregister.org.uk

GMTV will be featuring adoption every day this week, broadcasting live from the BT Tower where a dedicated team of volunteers will be taking viewers’ calls about adoption. Guests will include actress Clare Grogan, who will talk about her experience of adopting a child. For more information, visit www.gm.tv

For more information about National Adoption Week, please visit www.nationaladoptionweek.org.uk

For more information about BAAF please call Daisy O’Clee on 020 7421 2632 / daisy.oclee@baaf.org.uk or Lucy Handford on 020 7421 2633 / lucy.handlord@baaf.org.uk