This morning I woke up to a lovely email from someone I don’t know. The title “Thank you”, and following from that: “I just finished reading your fabulous book Mexican Takeaway. It’s given my husband and me so much more to hope for. We started the process of adopting three years ago. However, we found the system here in the UK everything you have described, so had no chance but to give up. I only hope that your campaign and the work of others such as Martin Narey help to change the system sooner rather than later. It’s so soul destroying for the children as well as us prospective parents. All we want to do is to give a child a loving home, how can it be so hard?”

And then I read today’s stories about adoption falling rates in both The Times and The Guardian.  Just to be clear, it’s not that the number of children in care available for adoption has declined, quite the opposite, it’s on the rise. Neither is it the case that applications to give them a stable loving home are declining. They are also increasing. It’s the system which is wrong. As it is set up today it’s letting down the thousands it’s set up to help. They are shunted around the system for years whilst social workers seek a perfect match for them. Meanwhile perspective parents go through heartbreak because the system makes it absurdly hard for them.

Its is sad. And unfair. And it just shows what what we are up against and why we desperately need to push for change. Now. For the children’s sake.

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