Prioritising the needs of children when it comes to adoption | Letters

Jeanne Kaniuk says huge strides have been made in understanding the pain and loss adopted children experience throughout their life, and Mark Burgess says his adoption was akin to winning the lottery

Recent letters from Prof Brid Featherstone and Prof Anna Gupta (20 January) and Janice McKinley (22 January) point out the issues of pain, loss and identity faced by many adopted children and adults at different times throughout their lives. As an adoption social worker of some 40 years’ experience, I understand and accept the validity of the points raised. In the 1950s, when McKinley was adopted, adoption was seen as a solution to the needs of infertile couples, and the needs of the child were not understood.

Since then, huge strides have been made in understanding the needs of the children, and legislation puts their welfare first (Children Act 1989). This can never remove the distress caused to McKinley and other children of that generation, but we have learned about the importance of understanding and prioritising the child’s needs since then.

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from Children | The Guardian https://ift.tt/38MFUBj