Calling for Post-Adoption Monitoring and Support: A Personal Statement

Abstract

This is the first of what we hope may become a regular contribution to the journal from people who have been personally involved in an adoptive or foster family.

In this instance, Kay Challand describes her own unhappy childhood in not just one adoptive household but two. As Kay's story movingly illustrates, a second or even third failure of a family that is meant to be ‘forever’ can be catastrophic. She also shows how outwardly a person may appear successful and materially advantaged, yet inside feel bereft and confused.

Kay makes a plea for children's placement with adopters to be monitored after the order is granted and for the children to have access to support when they need it. The informal and casual nature of Kay's original adoptive placements also highlight the importance of careful assessment, which is worth bearing in mind at a time when agency scrutiny has been criticised by some for being unnecessarily intrusive. Kay is now working for all those involved in the adoption triangle, to improve the system which failed her as a child.