What adoption is

Adoption provides a permanent family for children who are unable to safely live with their birth parents.

It’s a legal process where a court transfers all the rights and responsibilities from a child’s birth parents to their adoptive parents.

Adoption is a life-long commitment and provides the opportunity for children to grow up in a loving family environment with the security, stability and sense of belonging they need to thrive.

When an adoption order is granted by a court, the adoptive parent or parents become the child's legal parents. This means:

• the child's birth parents will no longer have any rights or responsibilities for the child
• the child usually takes the surname of their adoptive family and becomes a permanent member of that family, with the same legal status as a birth child.

Only children under 18 years old who have never been married or in a civil partnership can be adopted.

Adoption is only considered after we have determined that a child cannot safely return to the care of their birth parents and no other suitable permanent family arrangements can meet their needs. 

Adoption is different from fostering. While both involve children living away from their birth parents, adoption provides a lifelong, permanent family relationship. 

Foster care is often temporary, and parental rights usually remain with the birth parents or council. Find out more about fostering in Renfrewshire.