# la vs agency adoption



## bubs (Apr 3, 2004)

hi there ,i cant decide whether to adopt through a la or through an agency .apparently all chrildren are adopted through the la first and after a couple of months their details are sent on to other agencies.does that mean that you would have a better chance of adopting children under 12 months with a la? i wouldnt mind an older child but my dh would prefer a younger child . hope this doesnt sound too mercenary and calculating.
bubs


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## bubs (Apr 3, 2004)

sorry forgot to add my other question.is that the only difference between the two ?if they all do the same job then why do agencies exist.i cant seem to get any straight answers from any of the books etc i read.
thanks


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Bubs

My experience has been with an LA but I am aware that some of the girls on here are going through agencies.

I am not sure of the differences but I do know that some agencies/charities make a charge for the process, whereas the only thing we paid for with the LA was our medical (prices vary surgery to surgery ours was £70 for both of us)

When we went in to adoption we originally thought of adopting 1 child now and one later, we were then advised that the easiest way to get a younger child was to opt for a sibling group as they want to keep children together. There are no guarantees and most people want a younger child/baby.

it may be worth having a look on the BAAF site. Here's the link

http://www.baaf.org.uk/info/lpp/adoption/index.shtml

Good luck
Karen x


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## bubs (Apr 3, 2004)

thanks for your reply Karen.i hope to adopt a sibling group for the important reasons like not splitting them up ,company for each other etc ,and like you i did hear or read that you would have a better chance of getting an infant .i have been following your story and think you were sooo lucky to have been offered a second sibling . had you always planned to adopt  the two girls or had you originally just been adopting the one only for the agency to say "by the way theres another child if you are interested?"you are a very lucky girl and i hope my story has a happy ending like yours 
bubs


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## KarenM (Jul 30, 2002)

Hi Bubs

In the beginning before embarking on the process we only said one, but then opted for a sibling group so we were approved for two under 4's when we were approved at panel last April.  The whole process opened our eyes about the possibilities.  Also should things have worked out naturally or through treatment we would have had two by now anyway!!

Karen x


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## morgana (Aug 31, 2004)

HI all,

We are going through an agency and were told that the agencies don't actually have the children like the LA's do so we need to look at things like be my parent/ children who wait etc, however we can have our details circulated by the agency pretty much straight away. Several of the couples recently going through my agency have infact been placed with younger children simply because there have been no parents with the right ethnicity locally.

At the end of the day, although the LA would prefer not to go with external agencies because of the cost involved, if an agency sends details of people who look to be an excellent match they will accept them rather than wait for a local couple to come up.

Did that make sense. I have no idea cause I am so knackered from work.

Morgana x


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