Many children waiting to be adopted are being looked after with siblings. For many children in care, their brother or sister has been the only constant presence in their lives. We’d love them to have the chance to grow up together.
If you’re considering adoption, welcoming siblings might seem an even bigger step to take, but you could give these children an amazing opportunity to grow up in a family with their brother or sister by their side.
Why adopt siblings?
For children being cared for outside their birth family their brother or sister may be the only person who understands and shares their experiences. Being together can help them make sense of their new lives as they are getting ready to move to their forever home.
It can also make them feel safer, offers each child an extra layer of support and can make them feel less isolated. Knowing that they will not be apart from each other provides an important sense of continuity and belonging and has shown to have a very positive effect on their outcomes in later life (Hegar, 2005).
If you’re thinking about potentially welcoming more than one child into your family, it’s worth considering whether adopting a sibling group might be the right option for you. For people who are planning to adopt more than one child, adopting brothers and sisters could take less time and mean only one period of transition as the children become part of your family.
Requirements to adopt siblings
However many children you are thinking about adopting, there are some practical requirements you need to adopt.
You can adopt a sibling group if you already have adopted or have birth children where there is a big enough age gap between the children already in your family and the children you wish to adopt. This is to ensure that the needs of your existing children can be met alongside an adopted child’s needs.
Ideally, we would ask that you have a spare bedroom available for each child that you wish to adopt. Adopted children including brothers and sisters need their own space and a bedroom each. However, there are some exceptions. For example, if brothers and sisters have previously shared a room (for example with bunk beds or single beds), continuing to share a bedroom can provide comfort and security to the adopted children as they get used to their new home.
In every case, each adoptive home will be carefully matched before the children moves into their forever home. Find out more about the adoption process, from getting in touch with us to being matched with the right children.
When life makes them feel like they don’t belong, together, we can show them they do.
We’re here to help children and young people feel safer, happier, healthier and more hopeful – and have somewhere they feel they belong. Whether you’re single or married, part of the LGBT+ community, looking to start or grow your family, if you have space in your home and heart you could change a childhood, and life or maybe more than one, by making a child or sibling group feel they belong.
We understand that the decision to adopt is a huge step and so we'll provide you with support every step of the way. We’re here for you from the moment of enquiry, throughout the assessment process, to the day you first welcome children into your family, and beyond.
How we’ll support you
We listen and respond to the needs of our adopters, which is why we offer a comprehensive preparation, training and support adoption programme, including access to support groups, adopter forums and adoptive family social events.
How can you tell when you’re ready to adopt?
We talked to parents who’ve adopted and experts from Barnardo’s and asked them for their advice on how you can tell when it’s the right time to adopt.
“It felt like two families coming together”
Lindsey and her husband Phil didn’t set out to adopt two children at once, or to adopt an older child, but then they met the two little girls who would become their daughters.