Is adoption something you have thought long and hard about but are still yet to make the move?
Parenting on Female First
Adopting a child is a life changing decision but can be one of the best decisions you can make as a parent.
Caritas Care, North West adoption agency is celebrating the journeys and stories of adoptive families and to show that YOU can adopt too.
To encourage families to make the commendable step, Caritas Care have launched a new initiative, 'Adoption Champions', which aims to communicate and explore adoption from an honest and authentic perspective, sharing hands on individual experiences that offer empathetic advice and insight to would-be adopters.
Single parent Collette Taylor, Caritas Care's first Adoption Champion, said: "Adoption has affected my life for the better. Within 12 months of registering with Caritas Care, I brought home my beautiful daughter. Not only have they given me a family but they have always, and continue to, give me sound advice based on years of experience.
"As a single parent, I had concerns whether I could manage practically, financially and emotionally, but I needn't have worried. Caritas have been with me each step of the way, they have been my guardian angels."
Celebrating its 80th year in 2014, Caritas Care has supported hundreds of individuals, families and children through the adoption process to offer a better future for children awaiting new families. It is these experiences the Adoption Champions initiative intends to share to encourage more potential adopters to come forward.
There are over 600 children across the North West ready to be placed into adoptive families.
Caritas Care Director of Services, Amanda Forshaw, commented: "Prospective adopters should not feel limited by their personal situations. By launching our Adoption Champions initiative, we hope it will encourage more would-be adopters to come forward. You don't have to be super-human, you just need to open your heart and home to give a child or children a brighter and more stable future."
Caritas Care encourages current adoptive parents to share their stories to inspire others to consider adoption and show how adoption can change lives for the better.
To find out more about Collette's story, view her Adoption Champion video is online at: http://www.caritascare.org.uk/adoptionfostering/#adoption-champions