David Cameron urged to support adoption reforms

Posted by Francesca on Oct 6, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment I would like to thank the London Evening Standard for highlighting my proposals for adoption reforms when I urged David Cameron to take action: “David Cameron needs to lead on this issue and our focus should be to put children first. That means doing away with a system that keeps children in neglect until it is often too late and focuses plainly and squarely on their needs. That...
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Our Adoption With Humanity e-petition launch

Posted by Francesca on Oct 4, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment Today the Adoption With Humanity e-petition goes live on the government’s website.. Exciting times, but really sad times. I wish it hadn’t got to this. But it has. And it’s time to do something about it. This is why I am proud to say that our patron Oona King is fully behind us. This is what she said: “Like Francesca, I am an adoptive parent of two lovely children. And...
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What drives me on to transform adoption laws

Posted by Francesca on Oct 4, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment I have been very touched by some of the comments posted in the Daily Mail by readers who have shared their frustrations about our flawed adoption system. It makes me all the more determined to campaign for reforms. Here are some that particularly moved me. It saddens me to read about their personal ordeals, it proves there is a lot of love out there for children who need it most: We started our...
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Media gets hot about adoption

Posted by Francesca on Oct 3, 2011 in Blog | 1 comment In the past few days I have been interviewed a number of times regarding the unveiling of new data on the declining number of adoptions in the UK. This is an outrageous situation as we are talking about the lowest levels for a decade, despite both the increased number of children available for adoption and applications from potential adoptive parents. In many cases the parents-in-waiting have...
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My story in today’s Daily Mail

Posted by Francesca on Sep 30, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Following yesterday’s shocking headlines which reported that only 60 babies were adopted in England last year, I was asked by the Daily Mail to describe my experiences of adopting two babies in Mexico because of our failing system. This is what I wrote: We had to go to Mexico to escape UK’s twisted system: How one couple who wanted to adopt got round council bureaucracy Twice, my husband...
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My meeting with Martin Narey and why we need a National Adoption Authority

Posted by Francesca on Sep 30, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments A few days ago I had the pleasure of meeting with former Barnardos CEO Martin Narey. Following his retirement Martin has dedicated his time almost entirely to thinking of  how to improve the adoption system. In July he was appointed Adoption tzar by Children Minister Tim Loughton and unveiled a rather forward thinking 19 steps approach to solving the issue with adoption. When we met, I also...
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