A week ago I spoke to Tim Loughton, the Minister for Children. Tim is very approachable and very grounded. Moreover he’s done a great deal of fact finding about adoption, going out to meet the people concerned rather than just relying on second hand facts. (Other MPs please take note).
All of this made for a good conversation, during which Tim told me about his aim to make the UK adoption system less bureaucracy ridden. Cynics might say ‘good luck with that one’ as it is a major task however I sensed he was very driven on this one. Of course there is much to wade through, the incompetence of the DfE who pass the buck to social workers who themselves often do not know what they are supposed to do. Then there are rigid rules that often don’t make sense when applied and of course long before that, the way children are cared for (or not) when they are finally taken from a vulnerable home.
Tim is aware of it all and he was very much of the opinion that he had to try and make substantial changes to the UK system before anything could be done to improve the international adoption process. I can see his point on a political level.
However I wonder if it has to be an either/or situation. After all people don’t necessarily adopt internationally because they can’t adopt domestically. There are many couples I know of who, because of some attachment to a particular country, certain world views or even that they are moved by some tragic event, decide to adopt internationally. Of course there are those who are rejected domestically however very few will have gone down the arduous domestic track and then try international adoption. Usually this happens in the first stages.

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