Adoption plays a critical role in providing children with stable, loving homes, yet the number of adoptions in the UK has been declining since 2015. National Adoption Week is a crucial opportunity to raise awareness of the increasing need for adoptive parents, especially within the South Asian community, where cultural factors can create additional challenges.
Statistics from the organisation ‘You Can Adopt’ show a 22% rise in children waiting to be matched with adoptive families in England over the past year. Currently, there are 780 more children waiting to be adopted than there are approved adopters, with 47% of children facing delays of over 18 months to find a permanent home. Meanwhile, 9 out of 10 prospective adopters cite the cost-of-living crisis as a significant factor in their decision-making.
For South Asians in the UK, cultural and religious considerations around bloodlines and lineage can make adoption a more complex and often less discussed topic. Additionally, identity and integration can be challenging for adopted children from different ethnic backgrounds, creating further barriers to adoption within these communities.
Satwinder Sandhu, a leading figure in the adoption sector and a first-generation UK Asian, highlights the importance of raising awareness within minority communities to ensure every child has the chance to grow up in a loving family.
He discusses the cultural and religious challenges that the community faces:
“For people from Asian communities, your identity from a cultural perspective, does take on a strong significance. You want to embrace and nurture it because the risk is you can start to lose your connection with your heritage. For adopters, there is a firm focus on culture and heritage in Asian communities.
“Adopters from that community come to us wanting to see that connection embraced through their adoption journey – often they want to find matches that fit with their ethnicity and religion.”
When asked about the specific religious challenges:
“I have worked with many families over the years that have adopted successfully. Their religion and culture have in no way been a barrier to adoption.”
He went on to describe his view on the way that adoption should be approached:
“For adoption to be at its most successful, there should be a two-way process in which identity and culture are blended and celebrated in the broadest sense.”
Satvinder and Dom
Satvinder and her husband Dom are from Leeds. Having explored the fertility route without success, Satvinder and Dom decided to close that door and open a new one by considering adoption. Looking back, they couldn’t imagine their life unfolding any other way.
Although they faced challenges in their adoption journey, their own experiences proved helpful.
Satvinder, who is of South Asian heritage, had experienced separation from close relatives at a young age, a factor that was considered a strength during the approval period. They also say that they unexpectedly enjoyed facing the panel, which they described as a rewarding experience, quickly realising that everybody in the room wanted to say yes!
Satvinder describes her personal experiences:
“I had some positive support from my family. They were just really happy that we were going to build our family together. There was no question of if this was a child of our blood or lineage, which was not an important thing. It was more that after all the years of trying, we now have this wonderful little child.
“Once you have that child in the room, and they are with the parents, the grandparents and the extended family, nobody is going to go, ‘Oh my God that is not the child of our blood’ They are going to say, ‘Wow what an amazing kid!’”
She went on to explain how her community has a rich history in this area:
“What some people forget, is in the Asian community we have been doing this sort of fostering and semi–adopting within our families for a long time.
“We naturally look after our extended families anyway.”
She also talks about her experience with relatives in India:
“He has visited the village where my extended family live – and he was the little prince! There was no sense that he was different. The view was that as he is precious to you, he is precious to us.”
The couple have experienced strong support from social services, and the local school, but have found other families and friends supportive also.
“We would encourage other prospective adopters not to worry about the process and to not be afraid to speak up about any hesitations along the way. Every bump in the road is so worth it when you come together as a family!”
Isabelle and Nathanial
Isabelle was adopted from Sri Lanka in 1983, when 6 months old. She was adopted by an English couple who brought her to Britain and raised her along with their biological family in Loughborough.
Isabelle says that adoption has enriched her life, leading to the decision at 23 for her to adopt her son Nathanial, and later her daughter MG. Isabella describes her experience of adoption:
“Having been adopted myself, and then going on to adopt my two children, I know the importance of having an open dialogue around adoption. I want my kids to grow up knowing where they come from, and where possible, maintaining contact with their birth families.
“I didn’t know about my birth mother until I was much older, meaning I always had questions about my identity and history. Adoption is not a line in the sand between one life and another. It is something that should be open and celebrated – and I’m passionate about doing that with both my children.”
