Adoption

The adoption service in Caerphilly is run by South East Wales Adoption Service (SEWAS) as a consortium with Blaenau-Gwent, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen. 

SEWAS is the official adoption route for Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen County Councils. SEWAS comes under the National Adoption Service (for Wales) umbrella. 

SEWAS provide information about adoption; help prospective adopters achieve their hopes of becoming parents, supporting adoptive families within our area and advice for anyone with questions around adoption. 

SEWAS have a dedicated and friendly team who actively recruit, train and support adoptive families throughout the adoption process. Their help children find families that will give them a safe and stable family home.

Their aim to find parents for children who cannot live with their birth relatives and who need a permanent family.  

SEWAS understand every child is different so offer tailored training courses specific to the needs of the adoptive parent and child; post adoption training and support groups, opportunities to meet other adopters; signposting and accessing relevant services and post adoption support.  This abundance of training and support ensures matches between parent(s) and child work for all involved.

Myth Busters  

There are many myths about adoption; we regularly get asked, ‘can I adopt if ….

…I am single

Yes of course! You will receive the same training that all other adopters receive, preparing you to be the best parent you can be for a child. 

…We are not married

Whether you are married, single, in a relationship, or in a civil partnership, we welcome your application.

…We are in a same sex relationship

We accept adopters regardless of gender identity or sexuality. We have many LGBTQ+ adopters! 

… I am too young

You must be over 21 years old to adopt a child. We treat applications for all ages equally.

… I am too old

There is no upper age limit to adopt. We will consider your ability to care for a child into their adulthood and your own health and lifestyle. We have many adopters who believe they are ‘older’ as they have had their careers, travelled or had birth children who have now grown up but still have the love and energy to become parents again. 

…I have a disability/medical condition

Yes of course. We would have to consider your ability to care for a child and the life-long nature of adoption but we have many adopters who have their own medical needs and successfully become parents. We treat every application individually so if you have any questions please call or email us. 

…I have pets

Pets are part of the family to. We welcome people with pets that are family friendly and consider your current family circumstances when matching you with your future child/ren.

… I am not in employment

It is not a requirement for applicants to be employed, however, we will want to establish that you are financially secure. This means that you do not have significant or unmanageable debts or threatened with eviction etc. You will need to be able to show evidence that you can provide for yourself and a child or children.

…I have a birth child or children

We welcome adopters with birth children, old or young. There will need to be at least a 2 year age gap between your youngest child and the child you hope to adopt. We will consider your birth children’s needs when thinking of how to help you grow your family through adoption. For more information please contact us by email or telephone call.

…I am a smoker

You must be at least 12 months smoke-free before applying to adopt; this includes all forms of smoking i.e. cigarettes, e-cigarettes or ‘vapes’. You can track this with your GP, or give us a call if you have any questions.

…I have a criminal record

Everyone in the household aged over 18 will have a ‘police check’. Most previous cautious or convictions will not stop you from adopting but it is important you are open and honest with us about any past criminal actions as soon as possible. We will consider the nature of the offence and how long ago it took place. The important factors will be your actions and behaviour since the conviction and whether you can evidence that you have not / will not repeat the conviction.  There are only a few convictions that will stop you from being able to adopt, such as offences against a child or very serious convictions like murder or rape. It is important to discuss your circumstances with us at an early stage.

 …I am having fertility treatment

To be considered for adoption you will need to have completed any fertility investigations or treatment and made a definite decision that this is no longer a choice for you. Fertility treatment can often be exhausting and upsetting; this is a difficult conclusion for many people and the length of time to deal with the decision varies individually.  We usually recommend waiting a minimum of six months since your final treatment before you consider adoption.

…I don’t own my own home

You don’t need to own your home and we have many adopters who rent their homes. When starting the adoption journey you do need to ensure your tenancy is stable and secure.  

… If I don’t live in your area

Although we predominately cover Newport, Caerphilly, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Monmouthshire we have assessed adopters from outside of these areas and welcome their applications. We treat every application individually so if you have any questions please call or email us, our contact details can be found in our ‘contact us’ section.

Info events

SEWAS regularly run information events for people that want to find out more about adoption. Their encourage anyone that is thinking about adoption, whether you are still at the early stages of thinking about it or have made a definite decision adoption is right for you, to come along. There is a short presentation and then the opportunity, if you want to, to talk to a trained member of staff one-to-one about your individual circumstances. If you would like to attend, please email or phone to confirm your space and times of the event will be provided. 

Our information events for 2020 are:

  • Tuesday 14 January
  • Saturday 7 March
  • Wednesday 6 May
  • Saturday 4 July 
  • Thursday 10 September
  • Saturday 7 November

Who to contact

One of their friendly team will be available to answer any questions you have and to discuss the next steps.

*Please note SEWAS covers Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen County Councils but are hosted by Blaenau Gwent Local Authority. This means all enquires will come through Blaenau Gwent email servers and will have “@blaenau-gwent” on them.

Telephone: (01495) 355766 

Email: adoption@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk (See note above)

Website: https://southeastwalesadoption.co.uk/

Address:
The South East Wales Adoption Service
North Wing
2nd Floor, Block B
Mamhilad House
Mamhilad Park Estate
Pontypool
Torfaen
NP4 0HZ 

SEWAS are open Monday-Friday 9am-5pm; if you leave them a message outside of these hours or on a bank holiday, their will respond to you as quickly as their can once there have returned to the office.