In making an adoption application, it is important that the rules are followed and requirements of the act are met. Failure to meet those requirements can result in heartbreak and upset, let alone significant costs that have been incurred within an application.
The recent case of Re B [2025] EWHC 103 (Fam) is a case in point
In that matter, the Court was faced with an adoption order with respect of a child who is of primary school age. The child was born in Sierra Leone and adopted there by the Applicants in 2019 whilst they were living in the United Arab Emirates.
Sierra Leone is not a signatory to the 1993 Hague Convention. It is also important to bear in mind that adoption orders that are made there are not automatically recognised in England and Wales.
The prospective adopters are a married couple, one of whom was a British national and they had moved to the United Arab Emirates in 2018 and remained there ever since. The child lived with them in the United Arab Emirates for the last 5 years and thrived in their care. The child was a very much loved and cherished member of their family. The Applicants planned to come to live in England and applied for a British adoption order on 30 May 2024. They gave notice to the adoption agency within the area where the male Applicant parent lived which also happened to be the last place in England where he had a home.
The adoption agency prepared an Annex A report which was wholly positive. Once the proceedings were issued, a Guardian was appointed and the Guardian’s report was filed in October 2024 which was also wholly positive. The Guardian’s report recommended that an adoption order should be made.
Unfortunately, when the matter appeared for a further hearing on 11 October 2024, the Judge expressed concern as to whether the Local Authority’s assessment of the Annex A report was sufficient to meet the requirements under section 42(7)(b) Adoption and Children Act 2002. The Court required the Local Authority to file a further statement to deal with that issue. The relevant part of the act states as follows:
“An adoption order may not be made unless the Court is satisfied that sufficient opportunities to see the child with the Applicant, or in the case of an application by a couple, both of them together in the home environment has been given:
- Where the child was placed for adoption with the Applicant or Applicants by an adoption agency, to that agency.
- In any other case to the Local Authority within whose area the home is”
The child was not placed with the Applicants by an agency and so section 42(7)(b) applies. The Social Worker filed a statement stating that one part of the assessment was conducted by video link with the child and the Applicants in their home in Dubai. There were several interviews conducted this way, amounting to 9 hours in total. The assessment was carried out over two days in England. It took place at a hotel where the family was staying and included observing the family at lunch together in the nearest town.
The Court found that the family had only ever been seen in the home environment via a video link. The Court stated that whilst a virtual tour of the home and interviews with the family conducted in the same way are helpful, there is a difference in engaging via a screen and an actual presence.
The Court was clear that the requirements in section 42(7)(b) are not merely procedural. The statutory requirement had not strictly been met and without that proper investigative work being undertaken, the Court refused to make an adoption order.
Such an outcome will have been distressing for the Applicants. It will have caused delay and meant that the application had to be adjourned for a number of months.
Such pitfalls can be avoided and it is important to have advice at the outset to make sure not only is your initial application in order, that the Local Authority and other assessing agencies are undertaking the work that they are required to do to meet the requirements under the Adoption Act.
At Stephens Scown LLP we have solicitors who specialise in adoption and international adoption in our Family Law team. We work closely with our colleagues in our highly rated Immigration team to assist prospective adoptive applicants.