Difference between fostering and adoption

If you’re unsure whether fostering or adoption will suit you best, get in touch with our friendly team to chat through your options.

If you have a desire to make a difference you have the potential to foster or adopt and give children the love and care they deserve.

Our skilled team can help identify your strengths, limitations and areas for development. They will help you to decide on the best option.

Fostering

When you foster, you provide a temporary home and family life for a child when they are unable to live with their birth family. Most fostered children will, hopefully, return home.

Where this isn’t possible, we’ll look at alternatives. This may mean the child stays with other relatives, is adopted or permanently fostered.

Unlike adoption, a fostered child remains the legal responsibility of the council and/or their birth parents. As one of our foster carers you'll receive regular support from your social worker, training and financial support towards the cost of caring for the fostered child.

Adoption

When you adopt, a court transfers all parental rights and responsibilities for caring for someone else’s child to you.

You provide the child or children with a permanent home and the child becomes part of your family, as if they had been born into it, even taking your surname.

We know choosing to adopt a child is a huge decision and the Adoption Lancashire & Blackpool team  team will give you all the support you need and answer any questions you may have.

They will be there to help and support you as you both transition to your new life as a family together. To find out more about the  different steps of the adoption journey see the Adoption Lancashire & Blackpool website (external link).

You can also learn about other types of fostering.