# Anyone adopting in Scotland (Glasgow) and just missing the 0-2 age range?



## GEM (Aug 26, 2003)

Hi

We are in Glasgow and both me and DH are 41. In Glasgow and all surrouding areas, at least one of you have to be 39 to be approved for a child under 2, otherwise you are in the 2-5 bracket (or some say 3-5??).

I wondered if they can enforce this, when BAAF state at least 40 (or is it now 45) years between you and the child. Or could we push them to approve us for 0-5, therefore if we don't get a match in the 6 months and we go on the national register, we could perhaps be matched to a baby in another area? I think they may not put this to us as they will be wanting us to take a child from their LA and would think that we may hold out and wait to go on the register to then try for a younger child/baby.

Just wondered if anyone else in the area ad come across this and if anyone had challenged it in any way?

Gem


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## Boggy (Dec 13, 2006)

Hi Gem

I'm adopting in your area, but will PM you rather than reply here!

As a general answer to your question, the national register doesn't cover scotland, but I've Pm'd you with further info.

Bx


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## thespouses (Jan 5, 2006)

I'm not sure those guidelines are legally enforceable, in fact the agency we first spoke to hadn't even heard of them (and would have considered us, aged 40 and 52, for children under 5, when the "regulations" say minimum age 7 for us).


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## Misty C (Mar 1, 2006)

Hi Gem and everyone,

We have been approved for the 2 - 5 year old age group.  No child under the age of 2 because of the reasons you said Gem.  Interested in what else is being said, if you don't mind Boggy could you PM me your info as well.

Love Misty C
xxxx


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## Ruthiebabe (Dec 15, 2003)

hi Gem,

i'm sure boggy has been able to help you with specific info on adoption in scotland, but i just wanted to mention a couple of thoughts that occurred to me when i read your post.

The children on the adoption register are usually the more difficult to place children, explaining why they weren't placed in their LA or consortium area. So healthy white babies don't come up on them. But this may not be what you are looking for, in which case ignore.

The second is that at this point i don't think its a good idea to get hung up on the age of the children you want to adopt. You have a long process to go through, and you'll be given a lot of food for thought. My advice would be to get the ball rolling and get assessed. You'll have a long session towards the end of you HS when you talk about the types of children you will consider, so leave it till then to push for 0-5.....if you still want to at that point.

The final one is that up to the age of 2 you won't have a lot of understanding of the potential damage you childs life (in utero as well) has had on their development. It becomes clearer as they are a bit older. So, in many way a 2-5 year old will be less of a unknown quantitiy. I thought like you did that we really wanted a baby when we started but have adopted a little boy (now 3.5). he was a big 2 and a half year old when we adopted him. Not the oldest child adopted on here, but whats important is that he was the right match for us....not his age.

hope this makes sense and is helpful,

good luck with it all,

xruthie


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## GEM (Aug 26, 2003)

Ruthie,

Thanks for your comments, they were really helpful, particularly about not getting too hung up on the age at this point. Yes I am aware and agree that 2 onwards there is more certainty about their development, and when we heard this we were more in favour of a bit older child. I think I would really like the lowest end of the scale ie 2 but I have the feeling it is 3 and above (I know it is not a great deal of difference, but one sw will say 3 & above and others 2 & above??), and I thought we may be offered more children nearing school age that the lower end.

Also I thought we had to make it clear at this point re age if we were going to try to push to a different age bracket, as I thought they would say well the home study has all been geared towards an older child therefore we can't put you forward to panel for a younger age. Saying that, it sounds like Scotland is set in stone, and you cannot adopt 0-2 if you are over 39, so we probably don't have that choice.

I also know that as we progress in home study we will become more clear on what we can deal with, I just wanted to find out what I could just now, rather than down the line and then someone saying you should have mentioned that earlier.

Thanks everyone, all advice welcome!

Gem


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## Boggy (Dec 13, 2006)

Hi Gem & Misty C and everyone else

Just thought I might as well share what else I know about adopting in Glasgow here rather than start  PM-ing - it's no big secret but was being careful incase my SW read it (paranoia setting in   )

In my area, potential adopters are assessed for either 0-2 or 3plus.  The 0-2 age group rises to 3 years if it is a sibling group.  They are assessed by entirely different teams, and there is no cross over between them.  Each have different groups of children to place.  Info nights and prep groups are also separate.  I don't know much about the 3plus team, but I know the 0-2 team covers 11 local authorities all in the west of scotland.

In the early days we asked if we could talk to a social worker from each team as we were trying to work out what age was best to adopt first, with the idea we will be adopting again in a few years time.  We were told we couldn't meet them, as they were too busy and had to choose one group and just go for it.

I don't know much about the age thing, as we're both well within the limits but keep being told we are very young adopters, and there were certainly people much older than us on prep groups.  

Hope that all makes sense!

Bx


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## magenta (Nov 2, 2004)

We are in the east and went with an agency because our LA weren't recruiting at all for 0-5.  All children under 5 are placed by the permanency panels through scottish adoption agency; st. andrews and barnardos.

Our agency, St Andrews, doesn't approve anyone for an age range range less than 0-3 but I have no idea what restrictions come from panel regarding age gaps as it didn't apply to us and therefore wasn't discussed (other than on prep course to remind potential adopters to think what age they would be in 5+ years if they intended going though the process twice - to encourage you to consider sibling groups). 

I got the impression that panel liked no more than 40 years between parent and child though (unless other factors meant that you were best placement for the child(ren) irrespective of age eg - experience working with disabilities etc).

maggie x


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## Lynnm (Mar 7, 2006)

Hi There

We are also in the East, with the Scottish Adoption Agency.  Like Maggie, we also got the impression that they like there to be no more that 40 years between parent and child but I believe this is just a guideline and is not set in stone.  We know of a couple who were 48 and 46 and they adopted a young sibling group, so I don't think age is the most predominent factor.

Lynn x


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