in, though this was down from 73% in 2023.
64% said they received life story materials by the end of the year in which the adoption order was obtained, the highest rate yet recorded in the Adoption Barometer.
More negatively, just 28% said they had an adoption support plan in place by the end of the year in which the adoption order was obtained, down from 44% in 2023.
At the time of the survey, the adoption support plan was not a standalone document but embedded in the adoption placement report, meaning some adopters may not have recognised it as such, said Adoption UK. Earlier this year, in line with a long-time Adoption UK objective, a standalone adoption support plan, developed by CoaramBAAF, was launched.
Adoption system ‘frontloads attention’
Adoption UK said its findings showed that the adoption system “frontloads attention on finding adoptive families for children but then neglects the long-term support most adoptees need to thrive once adopted”.
“The system is still based on the fallacy that being adopted is the fairy-tale ending,” said chief executive Emily Frith.
“But it is only the beginning of the story for children who have faced incredibly traumatic starts in life and who must grow up away from their birth families. Despite consistent evidence of the life-long challenges for adopted people, most families tell us that help evaporates as their child gets older and adoptees say support is virtually non-existent in adulthood.”
In relation to the latter point, the charity surveyed 281 adult adoptees for its research, just 16% of whom said they felt confident that a range of therapeutic services were available to them as an adopted person.
Recommendations
On the back of its research, Adoption UK called for:
adoptive families to be given robust support plans that were regularly reviewed, particularly at moments of major change, such as the move between primary and secondary school and the transition to adulthood;
ring-fenced, permanent funding for well-evidenced therapeutic support for adoptees of all ages, combined with opportunities for adoptees to connect with each other for mutual support;
training for health and education professionals from the start of their careers to equip them to understand and meet the needs of the adoptees they will be expected to support;
reliable support for adult adoptees to access personal adoption records, connect with birth families and be able to access the health treatment they need even if their family medical history is unknown.
*This article covers the results of the 2025 Adoption Barometer for England. Adoption UK has released separate reports based on results from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
adoption, Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund, adoption support, lived experience of social work, mental health