You can adopt in Scotland whether you are single, in a relationship, married or in a civil partnership with or without children. Adopters can be male, female, straight, LGBTQIA+, homeowners or renting. You must be 21 or over to adopt.

Watch these short stories of other adopters on the You Can Adopt website. The website is written for an English audience, but the stories shown here are just as relevant to Scotland.

Each of Scotland's 32 local authorities offers adoption services. There are also five voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) in Scotland: Scottish Adoption, St Andrew’s Children’s Society, Barnardo’s Scotland Adoption Placement Services, St Margaret’s Children and Family Care Society and Kibble Adoption.

Contact details for all agencies are available on the Scotland's Adoption Register website.

Agencies usually ask you to complete two stages of application, an initial interest form and then a more detailed application form.

You will also be asked to provide references at this stage.

More information can be found on Scotland's Adoption Register's adoption process page.

Everyone wanting to adopt must go through the preparation process so that they:

• Understand the realities of adoption;
• Explore how prepared they are to deal with adoption;
• Find out more about the children awaiting adoption;
• Understand the qualities needed to be an adopter;
• Meet adopters and hear their stories;
• Meet other prospective adopters.

After the preparation course the decision to move on to the next stage of home visits and assessments is a mutual one made by you and the agency you are working with.

If you decide to continue with the adoption process, you will be assigned a link worker who will work with you over the next 6 – 12 months getting to know you and your family.

At this stage you will look at:

• Your life experience and motivation to adopt;
• The strengths you bring to adoption, individually and as a couple (if relevant);
• Your childhood experience of family and views on parenting;
• Your childcare experience or potential;
• Your wider support network;
• Your understanding of the needs of adopted children;
• Your financial readiness to adopt.

At the end of the assessment period the agency you are working with will pull together all your information into a report which is presented to the Adoption Approval Panel.

Your adoption agency’s independent Adoption Approval Panel will review the information provided to them.

The Adoption Panel is made up of adoption experts and experienced adopters and is independent of the adoption agency. They will make a judgement on your suitability to be an adoptive parent. You will attend the panel with your social worker and clarify anything they question in the report.

There is one final stage before you are officially approved, and that is for your agency’s decision maker to accept the decision.

Once officially approved as prospective adopters, the next stage is to find a suitable match for you.

If you have been approved by a local authority they will initially explore potential matches with children in their care. If a local search does not yield a match, then your social worker will widen the search and work with Scotland’s Adoption Register.

Prospective adopters approved by a Voluntary Adoption Agency will begin their family finding through Scotland’s Adoption Register.

Scotland’s Adoption Register provides a variety of family finding services which are a mixture of online and in-person opportunities.

The National Online Register (Linkmaker) allows you to view profiles of children waiting for adoption across Scotland. It is best to work through this with your social worker as looking at it alone can be overwhelming. You will also be required to upload your profile for family finding social workers across Scotland to view.

Adoption Exchange Days – These are opportunities for you to learn about the children currently waiting for a family through discussions with social workers and foster carers from all over Scotland. You won’t meet children, but you will be able to find out more through written information, photographs and videos. Find out more by watching this video.

Adoption Activity Days provide an opportunity to meet children waiting for adoption, in a relaxing and child friendly environment, where the focus is on encouraging adults and children to interact through a range of activities and games. Watch this video to learn more.

Live Family Finding Webinars – These provide opportunities to see and hear about the children waiting for families in Scotland. Prospective adopters can view from the privacy of their own home and can ask questions through live chat.

When you adopt you will be entitled to formal support from your local authority in Scotland. Each adoption agency will offer varying different support (within a broad framework) so you will need to look at what your agency offers. There will be financial support in the form of adoption allowances given for a variety of reasons, however these need to be investigated locally to see if your situation is eligible. The agency that places the child is responsible for supporting you as an adoptive family for the first 3 years you are together, after that it is the local authority you live in that will be responsible for supporting you. You should have an adoption support plan in place right from the start – it’s something that you should be discussing after your matching panel.

Keep all doors open – even if you don’t feel you need support at this stage.

Before applying for an adoption order you will legally be your child’s foster carer, at this stage you should enquire as to whether there is a fostering allowance available for the care of your child. You will be entitled to statutory adoption leave and pay, talk to your employer about what they offer. If you are self-employed there is not entitlement to any statutory pay. More information about adoption support in each local authority can be found here.

If you’re considering adoption from abroad please visit the Scottish Government’s website for further information on intercountry adoption. You’ll find information on how to start the process and find additional links to support the process.

Start researching, by talking with people who have experience of adoption, or call the Adoption UK Scotland helpline.

On the Adoption UK Scotland website you can also find fact sheets to give you a quick overview of the process, and a more comprehensive guide to adopting – The Adoption Journey.

Adoption UK Scotland members can arrange to borrow books from their Scotland office. Visit their Libib page to see what's available.

Other resources you might find useful include:

Scotland's Adoption Register resources for adopters

Scotland's Adoption Register stories of adoption

We Made a Wish adoption and parenting magazine

Catch children and trauma community hub

You Can Adopt resources and useful information on adoption

CoramBAAF publisher and bookseller with a wide range of resources on adoption, fostering and kinship care

Scottish Attachment in Action information and resources on attachment and relationships