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The purpose of the preparation course

The objective of the preparation course is to raise awareness and understanding of the core issues that relate to adoption and offer some insight into ways of addressing these issues.

The most common Preparation Courses available for inter-country adoption are the Group Preparation courses. These will be held either at your local authority or they are farmed out to bigger organisations such as Inter-country Adoption Centre. They are usually run monthly (depending on numbers) and will be held over three full days, one day every fortnight. Thus it will take 5 weeks to complete.

You will be invited to attend a preparation group along with other potential adopters - usually about 12. This will enable you to work and learn with others who are at the same stage of the process as you and will provide you with the opportunity to share you knowledge, ideas and experiences. The preparation course forms part of the Homestudy and both members of the couple will have to attend.

The aim of the preparation programme is to raise awareness and understanding of the issues that relate to international adoption.  These issues will be highlighted and useful means of addressing them will be explored through the knowledge and experience of experts and successful adopters.


Several core topics are covered in the preparation course which are expanded upon if necessary. Each agency operates slightly differently so this is a broad outline of what is involved.

1: Overview of the adoption process (My preparation course did not include any of this information - fortunately thing have now changed)

You will be given an overview of the whole international adoption process, including time scales for the different stages of the process. They may explore the policies and procedures and the laws on inter-country adoption and outline the continuous changing nature of international adoption so you will be aware of what lies ahead.

You will be informed of the requirements of foreign authorities and how you need to fulfil the requirements of the UK as well as the selected country.

Then you will be told about the Homestudy and how the whole assessment process works including how the information is gathered, what is assessed and how it is presented in reports. You may also be informed about the legal aspect of adoption.

This will be followed by an overview of the decision making process and the adoption panel and the roles of those involved, including that of the agency decision maker. You should also be informed of the Independent Review Mechanism - which is in place if anything goes wrong.

2. Caring for a child from another country

Issues that have presented from children from overseas and how you may need to parent them in a different manner then you would a birth child.


3. Selection of child and the adoption

The matching of child and parent will be explored and how children are placed.


The ideas of matching and how children are placed

Adoption support

Adoption orders and parental responsibility

Conventions on adoption

• The adoption experience - an adoptive parent and/or an inter-country adoptee’s account of their adoption journey.



Children who are likely to be placed for adoption and their backgrounds
The impact of institutional care upon children. Lack of attachment and the impact upon the child.  Ways parents can promote secure attachment.

The difficulties some children experience, such as neglect and abuse, and the effect on their development and capacity to form secure attachments

 The birth parent perspective - Exploring how and why birth parents relinquish their children
Health issues - the known and unknowns of health in adopting a child from overseas

child’s sense of separation and loss;

child’s contact needs;

attachment needs;
and basic child development.


The basics of adoptive parenting and how it differs from parenting birth children

Caring for a child who has been traumatised by neglect and abuse

Understanding and managing adoption health care needs

Caring for sibling groups

Caring for children who come from a different ethnic group with limited information about their past and no birth family contact

Learning from experienced adopters, including managing stress and developing resilience

Understanding the significance of the child's identity, their birth family, and the need for openness

Contact, indirect or direct;

Equality, including ethnicity, disability, religion and sexual orientation.

• Adoption from the child’s perspective. Exploring adoption with children. The impact of separation and loss. Tracing birth parents. Culture, race and identity in adopted children. Returning to the birth country.


• Work is undertaken in both large and small group settings

• The content is delivered through trainer input, case studies, group exercises, video and audio input and input from guest speakers including those with experience of adoption and a medical advisor with experience of health issues associated with children adopted from overseas

• The days are 'designed to be relaxed, stimulating and non threatening'.


The groups form part of the assessment process although they are for the purpose of preparation and education. The emphasis is on self-learning and at the end of each day you will be asked to complete a self-evaluation form.  These are a vital part of your assessment and will be used by the assessing social worker to support your application. Without them your assessment cannot be completed

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