42 Cumbrian children need a home

A baby's tiny hand clutches a small adult finger, an image of the trust between child and parent

National Adoption Week 2009 runs between 9-15 November.

There are currently more than 40 children waiting for a new home in Cumbria.

Most of the children who are adopted in the county have suffered abuse or neglect.

Around 500 children are in foster care in Cumbria and around 50 or 60 will go permanently for adoption.

Difficult lives

It is mainly children looking for new homes, rather than either babies or teenagers.

Most will have had very difficult lives so far, being moved between different foster homes after being neglected or abused by their birth parents.

But with the right adoptive parents they can come out like Zoe Hoggan.

Zoe's parents had severe mental problems and in her first eight years of life she was moved more than 20 times into foster homes and back.

Now she is 25, Zoe acknowledges that she often tested the boundaries with her adoptive mother, but it was motivated by seeking love and security.

Helping young people

The whole process of adoption is orchestrated by social workers like Judy Rouse.

She says parents are trained up to deal with many of the issues of dealing with children who may have been abused or neglected.

By the time the children are adopted, they have almost always been in and out of foster care for years.

Nadia Messenger, who works with the children, says this means they often have a good idea of their needs.

Jill Greaves is the Head of Adoption for Cumbria County Council.

She puts the figure for children looking for new parents at 42 and admits that this is the highest number in the county for some years.

It is more difficult to place boys than it is to find new homes for girls, and sibling groups can also create some practical problems.

Jill thinks that the ages of 9 and 11 years are most difficult because often the children are ambivalent about adoption at that stage in their life.

Applications are considered from married and unmarried couples, single people and single sex partnerships, the main priority is that your can provide a stable environment for the young people and that you yourself have a good support network.

New parents

Nicky and Dave - not their real names - were unable to have children of their own, so after trying IVF, they decided to go for adoption.

They adopted a five year old boy about 18 months ago.

They found out quite early on in the process that they would be unlikely to adopt a baby.

They did not find the process intrusive in any way, and Nicky says that the most difficult part of the process was in picking up the phone in the first place.

It is a very thorough process but Nicky says that as parents their adopted son has given more to them than they could ever give back to him as parents.

Nicky and Dave love to see their child blossom and acknowledge that they have to accept the child's birth family.

Adoptive parents can ask for help for years after adoption takes place.

Foster carers

Pauline and Claire Bibby are a mother and daughter from South Cumbria who between them have fostered dozens of children for weeks or even years.

Claire had known fostered children as a child and had always accepted that she would foster children as an adult.

Both acknowledge that it can be difficult at times, but it is extremely rewarding and there is always support from social workers.

Although it hurts when the children leave their care, Pauline says that she is always happy to foster children again.

Contact numbers

If you would like to apply to be an adopter, you should contact your local office in the first instance:

Carlisle: [phone]

Workington: [phone]

Barrow: [phone]

Kendal: [phone]