Support for birth families
Have you been affected by adoption? Is your child no longer in your care or is there a chance that this could happen?
Our Birth Family Support Workers can help birth families where there is a plan of adoption, or where a child has been adopted.
We offer a free, non-judgemental support service to families who have been separated through adoption.
The service is available to birth parents and other birth relatives.
Our Team and what we offer
We are a team of 6 Birth Family Support Workers who are passionate about supporting birth families whatever their circumstances. We support birth families living in Derbyshire, Derby City, Nottingham City, and Nottinghamshire. Our Birth Family Support Workers can offer a variety of support including:
- Explaining and supporting you through the process of adoption and what that means for you and your child – now and in the future.
- Listening to you and how you feel about your child’s adoption.
- Helping you to understand why your child was adopted.
- Supporting with letterbox exchanges and future keeping in touch arrangements (where appropriate).
We also have our Letterbox support sessions which are being held across our region. For more information, or to book onto one of these sessions please give is a call or send us an email. You can find our details on our contact details page
What happens when your child turns 18?
If you are hoping to trace and make contact with an adopted child/relative that is over the age of 18, our Adoption Support Team can offer advice on where you can get support with your search, and our Birth Family Support Team can support you to write a letter to keep on your family member’s files so that, should they wish to access their records in the future, they know you would like to have contact with them when they are ready. We always recommend employing an external Intermediary Agency to support you with this as opposed to conducting your own research, however, just to be aware, there is a cost to engage an Intermediary Agency. The costs of this can vary. This is so the intermediary can advocate for both you and your relative’s well-being, establish healthy boundaries, and think through with you how you would like to sustain contact in the long-term that is comfortable for everyone.
Contact us
Our support line is open from 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday (0115 804 0555). If we are unable to answer your call, please leave a voice message and someone will get back to you. Please be aware that at busy times it can take the team up to two working days to respond.
You can also email us on BirthFamilySupport@adoptioneastmidlands.nottscc.gov.uk.
If you are a birth parent or family member who would like to access support, you can also self-refer Birth family support – referral form
Resources for birth families
On this page you can find a number of resources which we hope will help to support you.
PAC-UK presents: The missing piece - Messages for adoptive parents from birth parents
Testimonials
If you have received support from our team and would like to give us some feedback, please complete our evaluation form.
Here are some testimonies from some of those who have received support from our team:
“What a lovely birth parent meeting. Birth mum only got there purely because of the amount of time and effort you two have put into supporting her, (physically and emotionally).” (From a professional)
“Thank you so much for your support today. I really appreciate it.” (from a birth mum)
“The lady I have help me today was ***. She was so very helpful. I don’t think I would have wrote back if *** didn’t help me. Plus *** also helped me write a letter to my other daughter too.
I would really like *** to help me with future letters also please if she is still on your team.
Kind regards.” (from a birth father)
