[Isabelle]

I have just had a child born with very special needs. I am considering having her adopted. I live in England and have been told it will take a year or two to find a prospective family for my daughter. I can't believe it will take that long. Does anyone have any advice. I don't know anything about adoption and could use any information anyone can give me. Thank you

[yael]

Obviously, I don't know the special needs your child has, but I would guess there is someone out there who will be eager to parent your child. In our case, we have adopted three children with different special needs. We are an orthodox Jewish family interested in Jewish children who need a home--with any kind of special needs. Others may "specialize" in Down Syndrome or premature babies, for instance. You may want to contact an agency nearby. You will be able to make the choice as to the parents you want to raise your child.

I wish you the best in your decision. I know it must be a stressful time for you. Feel free to email me directly if I can be of any further help.

Yael (yaelchai@yahoo.com)

[Barksum]

http://www.chask.org

This organization is NOT an adoption agency. They work exclusively with special needs children -- they support birth parents through difficult pregnancies and in parenting their children. They also help to locate families to adopt special needs children if the parents wish this. They also maintain a list of families wanting to adopt. The families who are on the list that is maintained by this organization request to be listed knowing that they will only be contacted regarding children who have special needs. This is also the only organization I know of who actively works to place children who are born with conditions so severe that they have a very limited life expectancy or who are terminally ill as well.

I KNOW that there is a family willing and able to adopt your child if you should chose to place him or her. I also know that there are people willing to talk with you about how to live with and parent your child should that be your decision.

[chloeg]

You said that you're from England right? In which case I don't think that website will help you with information on the adoption process or with finding a family, only with advice. There aren't really adoption agencies in the way there are in the U.S either. Everything goes through your local social services department, so you would have to contact them. I'm guessing that this might be where you got the time frame from though. If this is the case then they should also have told you that there is no way of knowing that this is how long it will take to find a family for your daughter without them looking, as there might be a family waiting for a child just like her right now in another county that they don't know about. Also they should have told you that if you do decide on adoption and it does take a year or 2 to find a family there are many good foster families who specialise in special need children, who they could place your daughter with whilst waiting.