FAMILY MATTERS 19| THE VOICE JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
ADOPTION
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SPONSORED FEATURES EDITOR Jacqueline Asafu-Adjaye
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June 26 - July 2, 2014 | PAGE 19
BAAF matches record number of children with adoptive families
T
he British Association for Adoption & Fostering (BAAF) is delighted to announce that its services have led to over 1,000 children being matched with adoptive families over the past year. For the first time in its 34 years of ‘Placing Children First’, BAAF’s family finding services have helped match 1,023 children with adoptive families (period: 2013/14). This is a significant increase, reflecting both the rise in the number of children waiting to be adopted as well as the continued improvement throughout the UK’s adoption services, including more creative matching processes and more effective recruitment and approval of prospective adopters. BAAF has been at the forefront of adoption linking and matching services for over three decades. Its family finding services include Be My Parent; Adoption Registers in England, Wales and Scotland; Adoption Regional Information System in Northern Ireland; Adoption Activity Days; and Adoption Consortia in Wales and Scotland. The charity continues to innovate in this vital area of social work to minimise the delay in identifying potential adoptive families for the UK’s most vulnerable children.
Barbara Hutchinson, Interim Chief Executive, BAAF said, “This is tremendous news for the children whose lives will be turned around by moving into stable, loving adoptive families. BAAF is proud to have been able to play a major part in bringing this about.� A breakdown of figures can be found below – O 432 matches through the Adoption Register for England and Wales O 87 matches through the Adoption Register for England and Wales Exchange Days O 160 matches through Be My Parent O 139 matches through Adoption Activity Days O 14 matches through the Adoption Regional Information System (ARIS) in Northern Ireland O 119 matches through the South Wales Adoption Agencies Collaborative (SWAAC) O 58 matches through the Adoption Register for Scotland O 14 matches through consortia in Scotland
Still our Children campaign wins major break through
C
harities and Foster Care Agencies welcomed the news that young people in foster care in England will be entitled to remain with their carers until 21. The move follows TACT’s and sector colleagues ‘Still our Children’ campaign, which sought an amendment to the
Children and Families Bill requiring local authorities to allow foster care to continue until 21. Local authorities are currently permitted to allow an extension from 18 to 21 but many do not do so. The government has announced ÂŁ40 million funding for local authorities over the next three years to pay for additional costs.
Following the announcement TACT interim CEO David Bradley said; “We are absolutely delighted that the Government has listened to TACT and sector colleagues campaigning for this amendment to the Children and Families Bill. There will still be issues to address, such as the continuing need
for additional foster carers across the UK. However, this is a fantastic development, giving children in foster care the security, stability and support they desperately need as they enter adulthood. We hope Governments across the UK will follow suit and also that similar entitlements for children in residential care are soon introduced.�
BG – LAWYERS LLP AND NOTARY PUBLIC CAN HELP YOU WITH THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF LAW AND ALL AREAS OF PROPERTY AND GENERAL LITIGATION
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20| THE VOICE JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
ADOPTION
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Diane and Errol had a lot of love to give. Mum and dad to their daughter Chloe, they wanted a sister or brother for her and to begin to build the family they always wanted. This is Diane’s story.
A
Several months later, thankfully the adoption process went smoothly – we had a great relationship with our social workers - and we were approved to adopt. We knew there were lots of children who needed adoption – particularly Black and Dual Heritage kids. Our social worker told us about one year old Annie. As soon as Errol saw her photograph he said ‘that’s my little girl!’ Baby Annie had a tough start in life; born weighing just over one kilo; she had extensive medical problems and disabilities to her hands and feet - the worst case scenario, we were told, was that she wouldn’t be able to walk. Both Errol and I felt we could help this little girl, we could give her the support and love she needed. I have had life experiences that would challenge most people, but I was determined to live and tell my story. I had help - everyone needs help, so I just thought this baby girl needs that same kind of help. After being told the details about Annie’s life, meeting specialists and doing my own research, we were ready to bring this little girl into our life. She was just 11/2 years old when she came to our home and she had an immediate impact on our family. Health visitors, physiotherapists and social workers came to see us and we supported Annie through several operations with the fantastic surgeons at Great Ormond Street Hospital. Annie made huge improvements; she’s now walking, running and doing well academically. We’ll be supporting her in achieving her ambition of being a surgeon! When we were told Annie had a new-born half-brother, Jay, again Errol and I had to have some serious discussions – I’d always wanted a son! But the prognosis for Jay wasn’t positive; he had a number of medical issues and was likely to be Autistic. This didn’t phase me at all – I said ‘we can do it, as a family we can do it’. As the months went on, I attended every training course on Autism, I invited every health professional I could find to my home to help me prepare for my son, and they came and provided the most amazing support.
PICTURE POSED BY MODELS
fter so many IVF treatments and miscarriages, I just said to Errol ‘enough is enough now’ we were physically and mentally exhausted. We thought long and hard about adoption and we were willing to give it a try. We spoke with our daughter Chloe and she was so happy to finally get a brother or sister.
Five years on – just like his sister, my little boy is in mainstream school – we took each day at a time and he is doing so well in school – that’s a great achievement for him. When Jay grows up, he can be whatever he sets his mind to be – he doesn’t need to be a doctor or a lawyer, he just needs to be happy – and that’s what he is! To be honest, I’m just an ordinary mum who loves her kids (probably too much) – they still need telling off and chasing to do their homework, but they are the most loving, funniest children with the best manners ever and I am comforted knowing their birth mum looks
down and says ‘thanks Di’. I would say to you, if you are reading this story and are thinking about adoption – pick up the phone, call Adoption North London and come and find your family! Tel: E-mail: Web:
0800 694 0101 info@adoptionnorthlondon.co.uk www.adoptionnorthlondon.co.uk
Live a life less ordinary
Adopt
Adoption is Are you thinking life changing. about adoption? We want to hear from you.
Our team will help and support you through the process, every step of the way. Get in touch to find out more and to book a place at one of our information sessions.
0800 694 0101
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21| THE VOICE JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
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FAMILY MATTERS
DEAF TEENAGERS BEING DENIED VITAL HEALTH SUPPORT FROM THEIR GP Deaf teenagers are not getting the support they need from their GPs, according to a new campaign launched by the National Deaf Children’s Society.
M
y life, My health has been developed by the National Deaf Children’s Society and its Young People’s Advisory Board – a group of 17 deaf young people from around the UK – and calls on GPs and surgeries to be more deaf aware and ensure deaf teenagers get the health support they need. Supported by the Royal College of Paediatricians and Child Health, it is the first health campaign of its kind led by deaf young people. With more than 200 deaf children and young people from across the UK were consulted to find out about their experiences of using health services, including visiting their GP. The findings, published in a new report, suggest there is currently a worrying lack of deaf awareness in GP surgeries. Many health care professionals do not know how to communicate with a deaf child or young person. Surgeries do not always provide deaf friendly services, such as the option to book appointments by text message or visual display screens to announce appointments. It is vital all staff communicate clearly and that sign language interpreters are available to those who need them. Findings also suggest deaf teenagers risk missing their
appointments if they do not hear their name being called, or could fail to understand what is happening during their appointment. Other deaf teenagers lack confidence in managing their own health care appointments. Lucy Read, Head of Children and Young People’s Participation at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “Young people have the right to high quality, accessible health care services.
However, this is not always their experience and certainly not for those from vulnerable groups, such as deaf teenagers. There are 45,000 deaf children and young people in the UK and it is unacceptable that their health should be compromised simply because they are deaf. It is vital they receive the right health support from an early age, as this also ensures they can go on to become independent adults.� Dr Hilary Cass, President, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health said: “As child health professionals, we have to get better at
communicating with deaf teenagers. Simple steps such as making information more accessible can make a real difference to the lives of these young people. “It’s shocking that too many deaf young people are at risk of poorer health outcomes as adults simply because they are deaf. There is no reason why, with the right support, deaf teenagers can’t be as healthy, informed and independent as other young people. This campaign and its recommendations provide a timely reminder that there is still a way to go to ensure that deaf children and young people have more voice, choice and control over their health care.� The My life, My health campaign highlights three key areas that need to be addressed: better deaf awareness, improved access to information and ensuring the right communication support is in place; supporting deaf teenagers to become more independent in managing their own health care. The National Deaf Children’s Society and its Young People’s Advisory Board have created a range of resources for GPs, deaf teenagers and their parents, including top tips for GPs, and a wallet sized card that deaf teenagers can show their GP with details of their communication needs.
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BLACK & ETHNIC MINORITY FOSTER CARERS URGENTLY NEEDED
Sunbeam Fostering Agency is one of the largest and most progressive independent foster care agencies in London and the Midlands, and provides family placements for children in care from all backgrounds. CAN YOU FOSTER A CHILD? If you have a spare room and lots of love to give a young person, we want to hear from you. We are currently recruiting foster carers in: Croydon, Ealing, Greenwich, Lambeth, Lewisham and Southwark Visit us online: www.sunbeamfostering.com Join us at one of our upcoming events to learn more: x Bermondsey Carnival 28th June Southwark Park 12pm to 8pm x Acton Carnival 5th July Acton Park 12pm to 7pm x Premier Gospel Week London 30th June to 6th July 6pm to 9pm
22| THE VOICE JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
ADOPTION
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JON HARDY SAVOURS THE JOYS OF ADOPTING AN OLDER CHILD I t’s quite understandable that most people start by thinking about adopting a baby. Having a baby is the biological norm: adopting is initially about replacing like with like: I can’t have a baby, so I will adopt a baby. It would be quite a leap of the imagination to think, ‘I can’t have a baby so I’ll adopt a 5 year old.’ I’ve never regretted the fact that I never knew my daughter as a baby: she came to us fullyformed, her own little person with a unique sense of humour and the stubbornness that allowed her to survive her initial years which she has to this day. Some people have asked me if I missed not experiencing those first days and months when a baby is totally dependent on their parents, subtly implying that the bond between us can’t be as good as if we’d had her from birth. They are wrong. Not only did I get off lightly – did I miss all the late-night feeds, all those nappy changes, the sleepless nights and the anxiety of babyhood illnesses? – uh, NO! - but we had had something even better instead: a daughter who right from the start broadened our horizons and let us see the world in ways a mewling baby could not. What most people do not understand is that an older child, because they are more aware of what is happening and want a forever family, are more capable of deciding to love their new parents – and
showing this – than any baby. Although many social workers do address this on an individual basis there is little publicity material promoting the positive aspects of adopting older children or even dispelling such myths as an older child has ‘too much emotional baggage’ to connect with an adoptive parent. In fact, there are many advantages to adopting an older child: there is usually more information about health or developmental issues and birth parent disputes tend to be resolved. Life story work is well in progress because everything about the child’s past is out in the open. Older children are often better suited to ‘older’ parents and, because there is a greater need for families for these children, the time spent matching will often be shorter than queuing for a baby. Being a family to any child is an enriching experience: being a family to a child who understands and responds to you means you begin a real relationship from the outset. Jon Hardy works in adoption but these are his views as an adopter, not those of his employers. Enquiries about adoption can be made to adoption@hounslow,gov.uk or via the website: www.hounslowadoption.org.uk Adoption hotline: 020-8583-4494
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HEALTH
ADOPTION
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JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
23| THE VOICE JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
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MATTERS Believe in the impossible T
his story is not so very different to the testimonies you may have already read. Like so many couples today, this couple met late in life and started trying for a family straight away. A year passed by with no success and at this stage the female partner was aged 41, so they had to face the fact
The Fight Against Kidney Disease In The Black Community
W
Amma Rose: ‘An Evening With CKD’ Founder
eight? Checked! Blood Pressure? Checked! Kidneys? KIDNEYS?! I wish I checked mine. 22, naive and immortal or so I thought - I happily broached my final year at university with dreams that quickly dissipated into thin air, when both of my kidneys failed. I’m Amma, charity founder of ‘An Evening With CKD’ (Chronic Kidney Disease). My primary objective is to create awareness of Chronic Kidney Disease and promote organ donation in the UK African Caribbean community. ‘Prevention in the community is mightier than the cure’ CKD is a constant reduction in kidney function over a period of time. The silent predatory nature of this disease is what makes it so deadly. Today over one million people live with undiagnosed CKD, mainly because the early stages of CKD, bears no symptoms. The unsuspected heart attack or stroke is often ‘tell tail’ signs that CKD is present. However the latter stages of CKD are symptomatic. If you experience these symptoms please seek medical help immediately: extreme fatigue, confusion, high blood pressure, swelling in limbs, breathlessness, increase in urination, and loss of appetite. Do you know that as a black person you
that getting pregnant was not as easy as they hoped. With God and a little bit of medical help all things are made possible In their own words, this UK couple outline their journey to parenthood: I conducted a search on UK fertility clinics and decided
are three to four times more likely to suffer with chronic kidney disease than your European counterparts? Furthermore if you suffer from high blood pressure, urinary tract infections, cardio vascular disease, prescription/over the counter drugs abuse or hereditary genes then you are most at risk. However type 2 diabetes is the single most common cause of CKD. So what’s your Kidney Status? I challenge you to answer the question. Make an appointment with your GP today and ask your doctor for a kidney function test. It’s that simple, a blood or urine sample could literally save your life. To find out more about us and how we plan to eradicate chronic kidney disease in your community visit www.aneveningwithckd.org
on a well-known Harley Street clinic. Prior to treatment I was made aware that my gynaecological problems (ovarian cyst, numerous fibroids, and blocked fallopian tube) would make it difficult to conceive, so treatment was delayed further while I went Continued  to  page  24
If you would like to fundraise for us or make a donation so that we can perform workshops in educational establishments, discussion/debates and events in your local community. Please visit the website or contact us on: 07956 335 069 Thank you, we really appreciate your help! LIKE us on Facebook: www.facebook/aneveningwithckd Look out for our Facebook competition, events and informative posts to help win our fight against CKD.
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24| THE VOICE JUNE 26 - JULY 2, 2014
HEALTH MATTERS
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Believe in the impossible Continued  from  page  23 about sorting myself out. In 2011 we were ready to start treatment. I was so excited about this first cycle and wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t put off by the numerous injections and scans I had to fit in during work time. However, two miscarriages and one failed cycle later my excitement turned to despair. Our savings were spent, my body was traumatised by pills, injections, pessaries and the emotional pain of two miscarriages left me feeling numb and alone. My husband on the other hand, remained optimistic and was happy for us to keep trying. I guess if I am honest I held on to hope; a fools hope some might say, but hope all the same. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure when it was that I reached a place of acceptance
that at 44, my own eggs were past their best. I thought about donor egg programmes, but being black it is very difficult to find donors in the UK. So I contacted another London clinic specialising in overseas donor egg programmes. We were put in touch with a clinic in the USA, but the price of treatment would have meant selling our home and then some! I went back to the drawing board and stumbled across a fertility blog site for ethnic minority women where the Barbados Fertility Centre was mentioned several times. I contacted the clinic by email and received a very warm reply from Dionne the same day. I felt truly hopeful again, especially after speaking with Dr Skinner and realised how affordable treatment would be. From the moment we made contact with Dionne the process moved along quickly. Rachel from the clinic arranged our flight,
pick up and hotel, all we had to do was turn up at Gatwick. I felt very hopeful about this treatment cycle; the drug treatment was very different to previous UK IVF treatments. The support from the clinic left me feeling content whatever the outcome of treatment. Barbados! We decided to enjoy our holiday and the clinic enabled us to do so by ensuring that all our appointments were in the morning leaving us free for the rest of the day. After the egg transfer my anxiety began to build up again and the two-week wait was agonising.
blood clot the nurse said, which was bleeding out and would need monitoring. We returned to everyday life and had regular scans, which put my mind at ease. By week 12 I was glad to stop all the drugs and felt no anxiety about allowing my body to take over unassisted. By week 20 I started to believe that in another 20 weeks I
would be a mum at the ripe young age of 45! Estel Idia Salome was born on 8th May 2013 weighing a respectable 6Ibs 11ozs. I chose these three names for our precious baby girl because they sum up our journey and the joy we now feel. Estel in Tolkienâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Elvish means to have hope, Idia in
Benin language means Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve come to stay and Salome means peace; the peace we now feel in ourselves. To all you beautiful women and couples trying to conceive remember: Is there anything too hard for God? For with God all things are made possible. Please keep trying and hold
on to hope. The Barbados Fertility Centre worked a miracle in our lives and come fully recommended. They made treatment overseas a seamless and stress free process. For more information on the work at Barbados Fertility Centre please go to www. barbadosivf.com.
On day 14, I tested using what I call an idiot proof pregnancy test, you know the ones that spell it out for you....PREGNANT or NOT PREGNANT you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t go wrong interpreting the results! In my case there it
was PREGNANT. Where was my excitement? It wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t there because I had been here before, twice. I informed the clinic and received a hearty congratulations and a letter with the treatment protocol for the next 12 weeks. As I feared by week six and seven I began to bleed heavily and thought to myself it is all over. I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t sleep as I braced myself for the mother of all pelvic pains that one experiences with a miscarriage only it didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come. In the morning, my husband and I made the slow drive to the early pregnancy unit for an ultra sound scan. I noticed that the bleeding had stopped but there was still niggling pain on my right side. As for the scan... there it was a flashing light, it was like looking at a lighthouse from afar. â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Your babyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart beatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; the nurse said. Beneath the flashing light was a dark shadow, a
NEED DONOR EGGS? There is a marked decrease in womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fertility after the age of 35, and if you have been trying to conceive for more than 12 months with no success then you must seek medical advice. Some women may need to consider the use of donor eggs in order to achieve a pregnancy, however waiting lists in the UK can be as long as 3 years and if you need an Afro Caribbean egg there is no time limit on how long you can wait. But help is at hand at Barbados Fertility Centre, where we run our own EXCELLENT donor egg programme for African/Caribbean recipients. We have NO waiting list and success rates of 72%, so why delay - call today!
www.barbadosivf.com 001 246 435 7467 dholmes@barbadosivf.com
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