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@robcheesewright.bsky.social

An adopters perspective: Social workers and judges are between a rock and a hard place. Take a child too early, and it severs family relationship, too late and the harm caused is prolonged and much harder to mitigate through trauma-informed parenting. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

bbc.co.ukRise in babies in care proceedings raises fears of unnecessary adoptions, experts tell BBCWith better support, many babies may not have needed to go into care, File on 4 Investigates is told.

6/10/26, 8:34 am0 reposts1 like

Rob Cheesewright

@robcheesewright.bsky.social

Late adoption is anything after 6 months. A child adopted after that period will often have suffered trauma in utero and in those crucial first months, impacting brain development and response to stimuli. There are real consequences of that for growing up, accessing education, later-life outcomes.

Rob Cheesewright

@robcheesewright.bsky.social

Yet, adoption is a last resort and their is inherent trauma (for everyone involved) when separating a child from their family, and then often again separated from a foster carer(s) when moved to their forever home. Seeing a child who has gone through all of that so young is heartbreaking.

Rob Cheesewright

@robcheesewright.bsky.social

Weighing up, at short notice with limited evidence, which bad outcome is the least bad is an unenviable task. I can't share the details of my child's story, to keep them safe. But as a late adoption we, her school, medical professionals are wrestling with the very significant consequences for them

Rob Cheesewright

@robcheesewright.bsky.social

Efforts we're made to try and keep them with their birth family, with intense support for months. That was almost certainly the right thing to do but when that failed to work it became a late adoption, likely adding very significant additional harm (its hard to be sure).