The Adoption Process in England & Wales

The Adoption and Children Act 2002, fully implemented in December 2005, repealed the Adoption Act 1976 and significantly amended the Children Act 1989. It marked an important change in the government's policy towards adoption, particularly in the use made of it by local authorities in respect of looked after children, and follows very closely the same process of change in the U.S.¹ The 2002 Act provided a strong lead for the adoption law reviews in Scotland² and Northern Ireland.³ The product of a decade and more of debate,⁴ the 2002 Act together with the Children Act 2004 and the Children and Adoption Act 2006, now consolidates the policy, principles and law in adoption and child care practice for England & Wales.

This, the first of the jurisdiction specific chapters, begins with background information on the social and legal contexts and the emerging characteristics of adoption. It continues by identifying the significant trends in modern adoption practice, considering the main elements of current policy and outlining the prevailing legislative framework. The template of legal functions (see, Chap. 3) is then applied to reveal the actual mechanics of the process in action. The chapter concludes with a summary of the more distinctive characteristics of the adoption process in England & Wales.