Adopt North East is celebrating five years of finding loving forever homes for children in the North East.

This week, to mark National Adoption Week (16 – 22 October) the regional adoption agency is sharing the story of one of those families.

Chris and Dan, who adopted brothers Oliver and Jack* three years ago, have settled into family life and are speaking openly about their adoption journey:

“It was a really personal experience and the training really helped to cement that adoption was for us.

“We went into it with this idea of a young single child, we had in our mind the lower age range between 0-18 months, and we came out with two boys under five and it was definitely the right things for us and for them.

“Adopt North East were really supportive in helping us to make the decision to adopt siblings as we went through.”

With their family now settled into a routine, Dan and Chris are reflecting on their experience and how their decision was the best choice for everyone.

“The boys have had each other all the way through, they really thrived on that.

“When you think about getting siblings you think oh it’s going to be double the effort, double everything but it’s been the opposite. There are times when they’re happy playing together or they’ve got each other to talk through their feelings and it’s great.

“We went through our adoption journey during lockdown so the first time we saw the boys it was online through a little video and we looked at each other and knew straight away we wanted to adopt them.

“We even met the boys for the first time on a Teams call, which was lovely but bizarre and they were sat at their computer talking to us and it was lovely.

“We then built up the relationship through a couple of introduction sessions before we visited their foster carers house, and the boys were waving at us at the window and it was an instant moment of bonding and they were well prepared for us becoming a forever family.

“They’re so proud of their story and it makes them feel special and it’s the best decision we’ve ever made.”

The couple have praised the support they received from Adopt North East and others in the process too:

“Our training was brilliant and as we were adjusting to life with two children it all clicked in and helped us go onto autopilot because you’ve learned it all and you know what to expect.

“No two days are ever the same but we felt really prepared for it because of the training and the conversations that the boys had about their life story.

“We’re still in touch with their foster carer and the social worker too which is nice, we can ask them things we might not know about their past, things like did they have their vaccines? and it has been really helpful.

“We’d recommend Adopt North East to anyone”

More than 20 children are waiting to be adopted right now – many of them are siblings. Get in touch with Adopt North East at any time to find out more about adoption, the ongoing support you would receive and how to join one of its informal, warm, and honest information events.

Adopt North East is hosting a special adoption week in-person information event on Thursday 19 October at the Linskill Centre in North Shields, where prospective adopters can head along to find out more about the process and speak to adopters about their journeys.

The event runs from 6:30pm and places can be booked here