If you’re thinking about fostering or adoption but aren’t sure which path is right for you, we’re here to help you understand the difference, commitment and the support available.
We've been working to change childhoods and change lives for over 150 years. So whatever questions you have about adoption or fostering we're here to help. There are thousands of children across the UK currently waiting to be placed with foster carers or adoptive families. If you would like to give them a loving home where they can feel they belong, we want to support you every step of the way.
What’s the difference between fostering and adoption?
Both fostering and adoption provide a safe, secure and stable environment for children and young people who cannot live with their birth family. However, fostering usually provides a caring home for the short or medium term, whereas adoption is the process of becoming the legal parent of a child permanently.
Key points about fostering
Foster care provides a safe, secure and stable environment for children and young people who cannot live with their birth family. It provides a home for the short or medium term (although sometimes foster children stay with the same family for years) usually while plans are made for a child’s future. The goal is often to support children while efforts are made to reunite them with their birth family whenever it’s safe and in the child’s best interests. If it’s not, foster carers help prepare them to transition to other, more permanent, homes. Other types of foster carers provide planned short breaks, where often the same child stays on a regular basis.
- Foster carers do not have full parental rights, legal responsibility stays with the local authority.
Placements can last from a single night to several years, depending on the child’s needs. Children can stay for a continuous, or have planned regular visits. - Foster carers receive financial support, training, and 24/7 guidance from social workers.
Key points about adoption
Adoption is the process of becoming the legal parent of a child permanently. When adoption happens, you provide a ‘forever family’ for a child who cannot safely live with their birth family.
Key points about adoption:
- Adoption means taking full legal and parental responsibility for a child. It is a life-long commitment supported by an adoption order, which is granted through a court and is permanent.
- Adopters receive pre-adoption training and ongoing support, including access to support groups.
| Fostering | Adoption | |
| Type of care | Temporary care providing a safe and caring home for children who cannot live with their birth family. |
Permanent with full legal parental rights. |
| Goal | A loving home for a child while efforts are made to reunite them with their birth family or find them a permanent home. | A ‘forever family’ for a child when it’s not possible for them to live with their birth family. |
| Legal status and responsibility | The local authority retains parental responsibility. Foster carers do not have full parental rights. |
Adopters have full parental rights and legal responsibility. |
| Support provided | Financial allowance, training, 24/7 ongoing support from social workers, planned short break and support groups. | We offer a pre-adoption preparation course and additional post-adoption support. |
| Duration/commitment | Usually short to medium term. You could care for a child for one night, a few days or even several years, depending on the needs of the child and what you are able to provide. | A lifelong commitment. |
Thinking about fostering or adoption but not sure what’s right for you?
If you want to find out more about fostering or adoption our friendly, local teams would love to answer your questions.
Would you like to give a child stability and care during an uncertain time? Or to support children through transitions? If you could provide a loving home in the short or medium term you could be an amazing foster carer.
If you’re looking for a forever family with full legal-responsibility and a long-term parenting role, then adoption might be for you.
How we'll support you if you foster with us
To support a foster child, you need to feel supported too. With our round-the-clock helpline, a dedicated support worker, training, financial support and an incredible community of foster carers there's lots of reasons to choose to foster with us.
How we’ll support you if you adopt with us
We listen and respond to the needs of our adopters, which is why we offer a comprehensive preparation, training and support adoption programme, including access to support groups, adopter forums and adoptive family social events.
“I always try to teach a couple of simple life skills”
Trishun and Matt provide short-term and emergency foster care. These types of placements can last from one night to a year and give a child a caring home environment to live in while plans are made for their future.
How fosters carers help prepare children to be adopted
Foster carers play an important role in helping children get ready for the move to their permanent adoptive home. Anamica and Prashan had such a positive relationship with the foster parents who looked after their son that they asked them to be Neel’s godparents.
“It felt like two families coming together”
Lindsey and her husband Phil didn’t set out to adopt two children at once, or to adopt an older child, but when they attended an activity day they met and fell for two little girls who would become their daughters.