The Adoption Diaries

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share about their experience of the Celebration Hearing and how they got Baby M's adoption certificate in time to apply for a passport. They also mention government funded childcare for previously looked after children, and dive into the final 'question time' of the season (you know you all missed it!!) Get in touch with us at [email protected] Thanks for listening! Mr and Mrs M xx

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share the exciting news of the adoption order being granted! Woohoo! We also share what's next and some funny new words from Baby M. Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share how Baby M has been getting on as he has been settling into nursery over the past 2 months. We also share where we're at in the adoption process. Lastly, they discuss the most recent Keeping In Touch session with birth family and how that went. We'd love to hear from you on [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M describe their recent house move, and how they applied slightly earlier than expected for the Adoption Order. Get in touch at [email protected] 

In this (very belated) episode, Mr and Mrs M share how the updates in the court proceedings progressed and were communicated with them. Another court hearing (or two) occurred and various meetings took place. They also have some family news to share! Get in touch at [email protected] 

In this episode Mrs M gives a mini-update to explain some of the delays. Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share about their first meeting with birth family, unusually before the adoption order has been granted. They also share where they are in the legal process as well as about a CLA review that they hosted in their home. If you would like to get in touch to share your experience, ask questions or simply to say hi, email us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M describe the medical advisor meeting that took place before matching panel, as well as all the paperwork that needed to be completed. They also share what happened on the day of matching panel itself, how they felt, and the outcome.We love to hear from our listeners. Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode Mr and Mrs M share how Baby M's first birthday went, what they did to celebrate and things they needed to take into consideration. They then move on to share about how Christmas was very different from previous years, and things to consider if you are new adopters during the festive season. Lastly, they discuss the ending of contact between Baby M and his birth family, and what the plans are going forward for both direct and indirect contact. Please get in touch with your own stories, questions and comments - we love to hear from our listeners at [email protected] 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share about their meeting with the court appointed guardian for Baby M. They also share how they have been getting on during the week of the final court hearing, and the final outcome. Get in touch with us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share about a recent court hearing for Baby M's case. Due to the court hearing falling on a Tuesday, there was no contact that day which meant that Mrs M and Baby M attended our Local Authority's 'Adoption Toddler Group'. Mr and Mrs M also share about how they found cocooning, what it is, why do it and how it worked out for them. Plus, the lovely post-cocooning joy of introducing Baby M to family. Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr & Mrs M share how it has been to settle into life as a family of 3. This includes: Contact arrangements with birth parents and the intricacies that come with that. Mr M goes back to workAppointments, meetings and admin for EP carers Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share the next part of their adoption journey, including the outcome of the court hearing. Did Baby M arrive home? Listen in and find out! We love hearing from you. Please get in touch at [email protected] 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share the outcome of the viability assessment and how they have felt over the past month of waiting. Get in touch at [email protected] us a nice review to spread the word! 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M give the listeners an update on the progress of their adoption journey. Plus they share about a training morning that Mrs M went on about 'Life Story Work'. Get in touch with us at [email protected] for listening!

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M discuss a meeting they had the day after their approval panel when their link with a child became official. They also explain what they have been doing to prepare themselves for the imminent arrival of this little child.  And there's a plot twist...Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share their experience of Approval Panel: how they prepared, who was there, what they asked and how it felt. They also reveal the outcome! Get in touch with us at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M share about an exciting phone call with their social worker, and the very rapid sequence of meetings they will be having after their approval panel. Please do get in touch with us at [email protected] 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M reflect back over Stage 2 of the adoption process and discuss what they would recommend for other prospective adopters and their supporters. You'll also get to hear some exciting news! Get in touch at [email protected]

In this episode of 'The Adoption Diaries', Mr and Mrs M share their experience of the infamous and very long 'Matching Meeting', the last of their home visits with their social worker. They also share about a Network Event, a sibling pair that stole their hearts, and the beginning stages of their Family Finding process. Books (both available on Kindle) mentioned are: Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders: Parenting a child with an invisible disability - Mary Mather, Julia Brown, Liz O'DonnellTherapeutic Parenting in a Nutshell: Positives and Pitfalls - Sarah NaishAnd the COECT course which Mr M mentions is: The Essential Tools of Therapeutic Parenting - sign up here on the NATP website. Get in touch with your stories, questions and comments at [email protected]

In this episode of the Adoption Diaries, the M's are back from their holiday, and they have finished their Home Visits! They take the listeners on a deep dive into the content of the following visits: Visit 4: Lifestyle, Health and Self-Care (including the Self-Care Plan) Visit 5: Neighbourhood, Community & FinancesVisit 6: Journey/Motivation to Adopt & Early Permanence (including the Early Permanence Workbook) Visit 7: Contact In this episode, Mr and Mrs M mention a series of books by Holly Marlow for talking to children about adoption, we'll post the links below. Get in touch at [email protected] Duck: Why A Little Chick Couldn't Stay With His Birth Mother - Holly Marlow, Amazon Link Here The Adoption Ceremony: When Little Chick Met The Wise Owl - Holly Marlow, Amazon Link Here Adopting A Little Brother Or Sister - Holly Marlow, Amazon Link HereCousins By Adoption - Holly Marlow, Amazon Link Here 

In this week's episode, Mr and Mrs M share their thoughts on APT 3  & 4 (their final 2 full days of training before the "on-the-job" type). They also discuss their uncertainties around whether to adopt one, or two children. This video was mentioned in the podcast, and is highly recommended: PAC UK "The Missing Piece": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIekzgTRpI8 Please get in touch with us to share your adoption story, questions and comments at [email protected]

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M discuss how they felt and what happened when they first met their Stage 2 social worker. They discuss their first 3 home assessment visits which were: Visit 1: Initial Home VisitVisit 2: Relationships, Support Network & IdentityVisit 3: One-To-One MeetingsAlso, they share the date of their Approval Panel...so get excited!! Get in touch with Mr & Mrs M to share your comments, questions or stories at [email protected] 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M describe two of the training/support events put on by their local authority for prospective adopters. They also share their journey and reason to adopt and answer their first ever listener question! Lite Bite Book Club videos: Drowning in Empathy: The Cost of Vicarious Trauma | Amy Cunningham | TEDxSanAntoniohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsaorjIo1Yc SECONDARY TRAUMA l The difficult parts of adoption l Post placement l UK ADOPTION l mollymamaadopthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feGbVQ6HmUc If you have any comments, questions or your own story to share, please get in touch with us at [email protected] 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M explain what the Stage 1 Review meeting was like and how they started to share their exciting news more widely with family and friends. In the episode, Mr M mentions a helpful episode of The Adoption Shared Podcast about executive functions which you can find here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/adoption-shared/id1589808211?i=1000562382965 Please get in touch with us at [email protected]

Mr and Mrs M share their experience of Adoption Preparation Training (days 1 and 2) and Early Permanence Training. The video that Mr M refers to can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn8j4XRxSck Email questions and comments to [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you! 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M give you a run through of all the forms and checks that they needed to complete during Stage 1. They also share some of the content from Workbooks 1 and 2 which form the basis of the Stage 1 Report and Prospective Adopters Report further down the line. Plus, some good news! Email comments and questions to [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you! 

We hear Mr and Mrs M's reflections on 'Foundation Day', the final part of the pre-stage process before formally submitting an "Expression of Interest" to adopt. **Disclaimer** - this episode goes into a lot of detail about what we learned on Foundation Day... future episodes will be more concise, we promise! Email comments and questions to [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you! 

In this episode, Mr and Mrs M discuss their journey to making the decision to go for adoption rather than other more traditional routes to starting a family. Email comments and questions to [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you! 

In this episode, we introduce Mr and Mrs M and the reason for starting a podcast (despite being total novices!) We hope that you enjoy joining our journey through the adoption process in the UK. Email comments and questions to [email protected] - we'd love to hear from you!