The Adoption and Fostering Podcast

Hello and welcome to this edition of conversations from the A&F network. In this episode I catch up with Kinship carer and researcher Michelle Hall, she is looking at the issue of contact between kinship carers and birth parents for her PhD. Michelle highlights the ongoing and complex challenges that can be present and shares the experiences of those she has spoken to. You can find access to her research here. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

We're back in the same room after a year online. Consequently, we're a little giddy but get ourselves on track and discuss the CVAA strategy update that we were attending in that London. We ask the question that many prospective adopters ask, RAA or VAA? Then we unpick adopter sufficiency, PP+, the three year rule and more. Here's a link to the new Adoption England Strategy that we mention, we'll unpick it more in another episode. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to this edition of conversations from the A&F network. In this episode I speak to adult adoptee Julie McGue, she was adopted in the US with her twin sister and grew up in the 60s knowing she was adopted. Julie shares her story of fighting to get access to her birth records and the names of her biological parents and the support that she received through a post adoption support group. Julie’s website here shares more of her story and her writing and is an excellent resource and window into the US system. You can also look at the book, Twice a Daughter, that Julie wrote documenting her experience here. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to Episode 185 of the Adoption and Fostering Podcast. In this episode we interview transnational/transracial Adoptee and Sexologist Anna Linde. Anna's research, website and social media can be found below Free Discovery call and my ”workbase” at Healing Exchange LLC: https://www.healingxchg.com/booking-calendar/discovery-meeting-with-anna?category=0ec8fc3e-78a2-4ef9-921b- 40851f4b1fa5&referral=service_list_widget Intimacy coaching group for Adult Adoptees: https://www.healingxchg.com/intimacy-for-adult-adoptees Instagram here. Linkedin: here We took our time getting to the interview so it starts at There were quite a few other things on our list to talk about prior to the interview, so some links below - You can read the statistics for the Adopters and Special Guardian Fund here. The Ofsted article is also here. You can watch Gay Adoption Grandad on TikTok here. We’d love to hear from any other carers or adopters from far flung lands so if that’s you please do get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to this episode of the Better Me Better Us Podcast with Vicki and Hayley. As it’s National Stress Awareness Month we thought we’d talk about expectations both of ourselves and others and how it contributes to our stress levels. We would love to hear your experiences and open up the conversation. Connect with us - Instagram- BMBUltd Facebook – Better Me Better Us Twitter – BMBUltd Email – info@bettermebetterus.co.uk

Hello and welcome to Conversations from the the A&F Network. In this episode I speak adult adoptee Courtney-Grace. She shares her experience of adoption and is frank in relation to the challenges she faced growing up and re entering the care system as a teenager. Courtney-Grace is honest and frank about the impact of her experiences and the challenges that she has navigated. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

In this episode we speak to Jenny Ginger in relation to her Phd looking at the issue of adopting when you've already got a biological child. It's a fascinating subject and we drew on Jenny's research and knowledge as well as a raft of interesting comments and questions that came from listeners though our FB page. You can read them here. We mentioned a new research project 'family routes' you can find more details of that here. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

In this webcast we discuss the latest updates in the world of fostering and chat about FosterWiki’s latest independent survey. We cover a lot of ground and reference comments from our FB page here. Please follow and like to recieve notifications and info about what we're discussing and upcoming episodes. You can participate here in the FosterWiki survey here. We’d love to hear from any other carers or adopters from far flung lands so if that’s you please do get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

This episode is an interview that Al did with Adopt 4 Life's Kathryn Connor and Murray Coulter looking at the support service that they provide for fathers experiencing challenging and violent and aggressive behaviour. You can check out their website here. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to this special edition of the A&F Podcast. In this episode we’re sharing a keynote speech that I gave to the CoramBAAF post adoption support conference to mark the release of the their best practice guide by Caroline Thomas and John Simmonds. I tried to ground the talk in the lived experience of families but there was certainly much more that could have been said. I hope you find it interesting and please let us know what you think. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to episode 183 of the Adoption and Fostering Podcast. We had a plan but got slightly sidetracked by the good news of FASD Ireland's funding success. That led us down a rabbit hole in terms of how do we affect change, what are the levers we need to pull and what are the challenges. We unpick that then Al has some feedback from CoramBAAF's post adoption conference and we run through that. We also check in with Al and get an update on his solo parenting experiment as well as the usual infobantz. There was swearing but nothing too bad, beware ye. Here's a link to the Family Routes study mentioned in the podcast As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Episode 10 – Embracing mistakes for growth In this months podcast we talk about mistakes- What was our experience of mistakes growing up and how they were responded to? Does this impact how we respond now? Do you create safe spaces and relationships for conversations to happen? We would love to hear your experiences and open up the conversation. Connect with us - Instagram- BMBUltd Facebook – Better Me Better Us Twitter – BMBUltd Email – info@bettermebetterus.co.uk

Hello and welcome to this edition of conversations from the A&F network. In this episode I speak to foster carers Halima and Adam. They have chosen to be carers while raising a young family and describe their positive experiences as well as some of the challenges that they face as carers. It’s a thoughtful conversation and demonstrates how effective support is essential for all foster carers. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to the 182nd episode of the A&F podcast. In this episode we chat to Phil Watson, amongst many other things, he works as a recruiter for Liverpool fostering as well as being a foster carer and adoptive parent. This is a somewhat chaotic but cracking chat with Phil sharing some of his personal experience as well as speaking to the challenges of recruiting as well as the nature of fostering itself. We would recommend following Phil here on social media as he is always entertaining. We would also like to apologise for Al's attempts at German and French. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast. In this episode we unpick a few questions in relation to post adoption contact as well as think about how much scaffolding is too much and downsizing when your children get to 18. Here's a link for next Intro to NVR that we're holding on the 13th & 20th May. As it's online it's open to any persons from anywhere https://rb.gy/dx888x Link for other workshops: www.fasdireland.ie/workshops - this includes an Introduction to FASD. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to this edition of conversations from the A&F network. In this episode I speak to Susan Vickers, she shares her story of growing up as a transracial adoptee in the 70s and 80s. Susan experienced ongoing racism and a challenging relationship with her adoptive parents. She then went on to reconnect with her biological parents with complex outcomes. Susan has written two book charting her experience ‘Love Susan: An Adoption Reality’ and ‘I am not a Paki’. that offers a unique insight to her experience and life. Below is an image of the sculpture Susan references in the podcast. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello to Better Me Better you Ep9 - As Children’s Mental Health Week falls within February, we thought we would discuss this year’s theme which is “My Voice Matters”. What do we already do to ensure we listen to the voice of the child and what could we do better? Connect with us - Instagram- BMBUltd Facebook – Better Me Better Us Twitter – BMBUltd Email – info@bettermebetterus.co.uk Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to this edition of conversations from the A&F network. In this episode I speak to adult adoptee Stephen Rowley, he was adopted in the 1940s in the US and he shares some of his journey to rediscovering his birth family. Stephen in a Psychotherapist and he unpicked aspects of his internal journey and considers some philosophical questions in terms of identity. Stephen has a website here and you can find out more about him in his memoir - The Lost Coin: A Memoir of Adoption and Destiny As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to this Wednesday Webcast from the A&F network. We chat to Researcher Matt Clark about his research into adoptive dads, we unpick why he's doing the research and some of the specific challenges that dads face and are perhaps hidden in the support world. You can read more about the research here or get in touch with Matt As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here

Hello and welcome to the Adoption and Fostering podcasting, this week we explore Therapeutic Parenting and Good Enough Parenting. Terms that we often throw around and presume that we understand but we ask what it actually is, is there a definition and are we all on the same page. We draw on the feedback we had from the excellent comments on our FB pages (you can read them here and here and consider if we are indeed therapeutic parents. We also unpick a little news and catch up with all that's going on. Finally if you've not completed the Home Office consultation on definition of Child to Parent Abuse please do so here. As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, the app formerly known as Twitter or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here Google here