Some Key Facts About An Adoption

Key Facts about Adoption

1 in 4 people in the UK have an adoption connection – adoption is part of the fabric of modern family life

There were approximately 65,000 children in care in England and Wales at the end of March 2005 of which around only 40% will return home

It is estimated that just 1% of children in care go on to university - a statistic that has huge knock on effects for society as a whole

People who have been in care are 66 times more likely to have their own children taken into care
Only 4,000 children were adopted during the year ending March 2005 just 210 of these children were under age one

The average age at which children are adopted is four years and two months
The Adoption and Children Act 2002 (enforced December 2005) was the first piece of adoption legislation in over a quarter of a century. The Act gave unmarried and same sex couples the right to jointly adopt

The Act also gave birth relatives the right to request that their local authority or relevant adoption society make contact with their birth children, provided they are over 18 and are happy to be contacted