Midlands-based adoption agency Family Society - Adoption Focus is joining with other agencies across the UK to mark National Adoption Week this week. The aim of this year’s campaign is to increase understanding of modern adoption and show that ‘the journey to a family is not always a traditional one’.
As part of this, a new survey by You Can Adopt exploring changing attitudes to family life reveals that 61 per cent of people in the West Midlands believe that there’s no such thing as a ‘normal’ family, 50 per cent have a ‘chosen family’, and 51 per cent come from a ‘non-traditional’ family structure.
The survey has also revealed that the vast majority of the public (86 per cent) feel it’s important to teach children that families come in all shapes and sizes, and that this promotes acceptance of children from non-traditional family units. However, 50 per cent of the public surveyed were not taught this themselves when growing up.
To mark the theme of ‘The Journey’, a new short film, set onboard a train, follows the stories of three adoptive families on their travels, reflecting on the ups, downs and detours of their lifelong journey.
Rachel, who features in the film alongside her two-year-old adopted daughter Winnie, father Daniel and social worker Becky, said: “You have an idea in your head of what family looks like, and for us it’s been different, but even more wonderful in different ways. For me, it’s really important that Winnie has a sense of herself and her identity – that she understands that not only do all families look different, but she has more than one family, and that’s OK.”
To find out more about starting an adoption journey, please visit the website. Watch the short film ‘The Journey’ HERE.
