We know that a lot of people have questions about their health when it comes to adoption so we thought it would be helpful to highlight some of the guidance and our overall approach to this within the adoption assessment.

Here at Together4Chidlren we are committed to finding positive, nurturing, lifelong adoptive families for children who are in our care. We do this by matching children with adopters who we believe are able to meet their needs now, and in the future. Adoption is a lifelong commitment and for children who have already experienced loss and disruption, a healthy and stable family life is key to supporting them to thrive.

Why does my health matter?

Excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, limited exercise and smoking all have potential implications for an individual’s health and well-being.  This includes the increased risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, a range of cancers, and diabetes. It is our hope that the children we place will have their adoptive parents around for as long as possible.

As well as these impacts on the individual, a integral part of parenting is being a positive role model for children as we know that early influences will shape their views and habits longer term. As such, we need adopters who will role model and promote lifelong healthy behaviours for children.

How do we assess this?

As part of the assessment process, all adopters complete a declaration in respect of their health and lifestyle and have a medical undertaken with their GP.  It is worth mentioning that many of our successful adopters do have a variety of medical conditions and the process is not to ‘rule people out’ for these, but to explore the impact and any support that might be needed when planning to adopt. Alongside any specific conditions, the medical assessment will explore your general health including exercise, diet, smoking and alcohol consumption.  The medical undertaken by your GP and referred to the agency’s medical advisor (who will in turn advise the panel) and will include information relating to these factors and any impact your health could have on yourself and future adopted children. 

The guidance on smoking

Smoking and tobacco products present specific concerns for many reasons; passive smoking is damaging to the health of any adult or child in the vicinity of the smoke and a smoking parent (even occasional or outside of the home) adds well evidenced additional health risks for babies and children as well as leading to a higher uptake of smoking by children of smokers. As an adoption agency we have a duty to protect the health of children who require adoption and therefore Together4Children cannot accept applications from anyone who is currently smoking to adopt children under the age of 5.

If you plan to stop smoking you will need to have achieved a minimum of six months of not smoking before applying to us. There are other recommendations regarding vaping and other related products, so do speak to us about this if this is your situation.

There is a lot of help and support for stopping smoking which can be accessed here or via your GP/ health care practitioner.

What to do next

If you are concerned about any health factors, or have an ongoing medical condition, please just mention this on the application or if you wish to speak to us before, we are always happy to chat through any worries that you may have. As your medical will be arranged through your GP, they will also be able to advise about possible support for any changes you may like to undertake.