Matt and Joe’s Story

Matt and Joe had been together for 10 years and had lots of discussions about becoming parents.

After doing some research, they decided to attend an adoption information session.

Matt said “It was a quicker process than I expected. It was intense and tiring at times, but it felt right. The different stages are very reflective, and the training helped prepare us for some of the challenges ahead.

Joe mentioned “Our social workers were brilliant; we formed such a great relationship and it felt strange when it came to an end. The best part of the process was being approved; this was the moment I believed that we were going to become parents.

Being matched with our son was an exciting time – shortly after, he started the transition into our home from his foster carers.

The bonding experience took longer than expected. We were told we couldn’t put a time on that and every child bonds and attaches differently. The relationship we built up with our son’s foster carers was key, as the advice they gave during that period was invaluable.

What really made us feel like a family was all the little things and enjoying moments of connection with our son – the challenges of shopping with toddlers, being allowed to park in the parent-child bay, the daily routines of family life, and our son calling us Daddy Joe and Daddy Matt.

Then out of the blue, our social worker contacted us to let us know that a sibling had been born and if we wanted to adopt him. We were in a good place and decided to go ahead with the second adoption.

The second adoption process was a bit quicker, but we also had to consider a third person in the situation and consider our son’s feelings and the impact of having his brother placed. But to us, it was an easy decision as we couldn’t imagine them being separated.

We felt a lot more at ease the second time around as we had already experienced the early years and our lives have changed for the better now.

The four of us have trips away and Christmas is now all about the kids, family life is hectic but great fun”.

For anyone thinking about adopting, attend one of our information sessions here or request an information pack