When is the right time to think about adoption or fostering if fertility treatment hasn worked?
Agencies usually recommend that you wait for at least 6 to 12 months after ending fertility treatment before you apply to adopt or permanently foster. You are likely to have been through a difficult and emotional experience and, while you are still dealing with the feelings caused by unsuccessful fertility treatment, you may not be able to give adoption and fostering the careful consideration they need. The recommended 6 to 12-month period is to allow you time to mourn the birth children you are not going to have. You, and your partner if you have one, may also decide to have some form of therapy or counselling. Adoption and fostering agencies do not usually assess prospective adopters and foster carers who are involved in ongoing fertility treatment. This is because it can be difficult to pursue two different routes to parenting at the same time. Almost every adopted or fostered child will have particular emotional needs as a result of having to leave their birth family. Even if you d
