Who can adopt

No matter your background, relationship status, or living situation - there are children waiting for safe, stable, loving families. Could you be that family?

We believe that every child deserves a safe, nurturing, and supportive home.

Adoption is open to a wide range of individuals and families. Whether you're single, married, in a civil partnership, or part of a loving couple - your ability to provide a stable, caring home is what matters most.

You don’t need to own your home, be wealthy, or have parenting experience. What you do need is commitment, compassion, and the willingness to make a lifelong difference.

This page will guide you through who can adopt and help you explore whether adoption could be the right path for you.

Our basic requirements

To adopt a child you need to:

be over 21
live in a settled accommodation which can provide a safe environment for a child, with a spare bedroom for exclusive use of the child
be able to provide space and time to meet the child's needs
have lived in the UK for at least one year, or one member of the couple must be a resident of the UK
have a valid DBS certificate, no offences against a child, no sexual offences or other extreme offences which may cause us concern based on their severity

Check if you can adopt

The best way to find out if you can adopt and see if you are ready to start the adoption process, is by using our adoption readiness tool.

Check if you're eligible

Common questions

We welcome people who already have children and the parenting experience that you bring. We will help you with the differences around adoptive parenting.

For adopters who are already parents there will need to be an age gap of at least two years between the youngest child already in your family and your adopted child, at the time of application.

You do not need to own your own home - as long as the building is suitable for caring for a child, it does not matter if you own or rent it. You will need to show us that you have enough room to care for a child, in a safe and secure environment.

Yes you can!

If you're single, you need to be able to show that you have a close network of people around you who will support you practically and emotionally in your parenting.

This is so that you're not isolated and have others who you can speak to about how you are and share joys and challenges.

Your gender identity or sexual orientation is not a factor in your application, assessment or suitability to adopt. We welcome adopters of all gender identities and sexualities whether single or looking to adopt jointly with their partner.

We consider people who can offer a child a loving home regardless of their working status.

We need to be assured you have enough income to care for a child, but this does not mean many thousands of pounds in savings.

Do discuss this with us.

We usually consider travel of about an hour from Aylesbury, where our central office is located.

No.

Adopters in the UK are not paid for adopting children. In some circumstances, however, we may be able to offer you some financial support.

For example, if you're adopting a group of brothers and sisters, we can consider a means tested adoption allowance.

Further support

You can also find information about adoption on the national Adoption England website.

Adoption England offer examples of adopter's experiences from across the country as well as more information about specific areas such as Early Permanence and children who need adopting.