Children and families

Adoption support

Contents

Contact the service

We can provide advice and support to people living in Surrey affected by adoption as follows:

  • Adults adopted as children
  • Birth relatives of an adopted person
  • Young People under 18 years of age and their adoptive families
  • If you are pregnant, and considering adoption for your child

Adoption touches the lives of many people in different ways. Contact the Adoption South East Team.

Email: adoption@surreycc.gov.uk

Telephone: 01932 794347

Adoption general enquiry form

If you're an adult who was adopted as a child

As an adult who was adopted, you may want support to access information about your adoption. You may also want advice about searching for and making contact with your birth relatives. How you access information will depend, in part, on when you were adopted.

If your adoption took place before 30 December 2005, you should contact the General Register Office to apply to access your birth records. If your adoption took place after 30 December 2005, you should apply directly to the adoption agency or local authority that dealt with your adoption (if this is known.)

Please be aware that if you were adopted before 12 November 1975 you will need to meet with an adoption support worker. They will share with you the identifying information provided by the General Register Office (GRO).

To register your interest in contact or to say that you would not wish for any contact with members of your birth family, get in touch with The National Adoption Contact Register. If you register, and a member of your birth family has registered or registers in the future, then you will be informed. Please be aware that there is a fee for this service. Further information and an application form can be obtained from GOV.UK.

Adopted persons support group

A Support Group for Adopted Adults living in Surrey meets monthly, and is facilitated by an adopted adult.

For more details email adoption@surreycc.gov.uk

Birth relatives of an adopted person

There is no automatic right to receive information about an adopted person. However, we are able to provide general advice and support to birth relatives. Subject to agreement of the adoptive family it may be possible to exchange information or for us to support contact. This could be by a face-to-face meeting or a letter box exchange.

If you wish to discuss information sharing or contact with an adopted person, please email us at adoption@surreycc.gov.uk

Support for adopted young people and their adoptive families

Many of our services to adoptive families are available without an assessment.

You can normally access support if one of the following apply:

  • You have been assessed and approved as prospective adopters by Surrey County Council (approvals prior to 1 April 2020) or by Adoption South East (approvals after 1 April 2020)
  • You have adopted a child who was previously in the care of Surrey County Council
  • You have been assessed and approved by another adoption agency and now live in Surrey and pay us council tax. The previous agency would need to verify approval.

Examples of the support available if you meet the above criteria includes:

  • Access to a secure website for Surrey adopters
  • Invitations to events for adoptive families
  • Regular training for adopters.
  • Our fortnightly adoptive parent and toddler group.
  • A monthly daytime drop-in for adoptive families
  • One off consultation with a social worker or an educational psychologist.

Assessments of adoption support needs

Our team can provide assessments of adoption support needs for adopted children and families living in Surrey. If the child was adopted from another local authority, they remain responsible for any therapeutic work and assessment within 3 years of the adoption.

An assessment of adoption need might result in one-off advice. This may include signposting to another service better able to address the needs identified such as Mindworks Surrey or Surrey Virtual School.

Where it is agreed that Adoption South East are the best placed service to provide support, a plan will be agreed. This may involve an application to the Adoption Support Fund to access support from a specific service.

To discuss your support needs further, email us at adoption@surreycc.gov.uk

If you are pregnant and wish to discuss adoption

We work in partnership with Surrey Children's Services to support any woman who is considering adoption for her unborn child.

You can also email us at adoption@surreycc.gov.uk to discuss a referral, or speak to your midwife.

Other organisations offering support to Surrey residents affected by adoption

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