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James and Emma's adoption story
James and his wife always wanted to be parents, but it was never quite the right time. "I was in the army for eleven years, so we'd moved around a lot. Then I lost a leg serving in the army and was lucky to be alive."
The experience was life changing and the couple felt strongly that they wanted to give something back. "The time was right but as Emma didn't want to be pregnant, we decided to look at adoption as a route to parenthood."
The couple started their journey to adoption in lockdown so went through the process online. "Because of the unusual circumstances, we didn't really get to know our social worker as well as we might have done. But everyone was very friendly, welcoming and empathetic and we enjoyed the experience. We bonded with the other couples in our online group and since lockdown, we've been meeting up in person from time to time."
During the adoption process, the couple were given the profiles of several children. "Our social worker supported us through the process of choosing. It has to be the right match for the child and the prospective parents. It's crucial to reduce the risk of an adoption breaking down."
James and Emma have been adoptive parents for nearly two years now. "Our primary goal was to become parents. Adoption is key when so many children need a family - our aim is to give our son an incredible life. We've learned so much about ourselves and about parenting."
Before they adopted their son, he had been in foster care. "He had the most amazing foster carers. They were a big part of his life and we wanted to keep in touch with them. We see them 3 or 4 times a year and they're like grandparents to him. They're also a wealth of knowledge for us and give us advice if we're worried about something. Adoption was a very positive choice for us - we just really wanted to do it."