I’ve just skimmed over the posts, but [name]Lemon[/name], you picked out my favourites - I adore [name]Amadeus[/name] (I’m trying to get that 80s song out of my head) and [name]Elvira[/name]; thank you BellaItalia! [name]Erasmus[/name] is very eyecatching, too 
No, I am not adopting. I am awfully concerned however at someone claiming their adoption agency broke the law though. I know it and the conditions around adoption in the UK very well and it simply does not happen. Catholic agencies are voluntary agencies and are under the exact same regulations.
Junipa,
I am very curious about your post. Can you explain the rules again in the UK? I ask because my husband and I “adopted” a 4 (now 5) year old cousin of his last year while I was pregnant (adoption still to be finalized, as it is a lengthy process even for relatives, however we have custody) While we were in the US and [name]Canada[/name], we had some battles too. Can you spell out rules in UK? Thanks!
I seem to recall that your adoption was due to the parents of the child (your husband’s relative) passing away, yes? That would be a very different matter to what twinkle has described and while it would go through the same process it would be relatively stress free. I’m sorry you had some trouble, how stressful it must have been.
twinkle, it’s very peculiar that your adoption hearing was nearly a month earlier than would have been legal too. The children came to live with you on the 27th [name]November[/name] (after the few days in late [name]October[/name]). The earliest an adoption hearing could have been under UK law would have been February 27th. Yours was February 2nd. Two huge illegalities that no voluntary agency (you’re in [name]London[/name], so which you likely used as a Catholic one is obvious) would do, nor that any court would pass.
Our battles have been internal with an extended family member. But what is with the oldest child rule and age in the UK? This is what I am confused about. Your child has to be at least 2 years older than adoptee and you can’t be pregnant?
Sorry, I’m not sure what’s confusing. It’s very simple - you cannot have another child (birth or by adoption) already in a household who is less than two years older than the children who will be adopted. Most agencies extend that to up to five years but it is illegal to drop it back to say 6 months or one year. If you fall pregnant during the proceedings it will not be processed any further until six months after the pregnancy ends (if it did not end in a live birth) or until the child/ren from the pregnancy are at least two years of age.
Thanks. I guess what throws me is that this applies to older children as well. If you had a 9 year old, you wouldn’t be able to adopt a 7 year old. I completely understand with younger children under 2-3 as it becomes quite a handful, but seems odd that would still apply to older kids (6+) as the companionship of a sibling relative to the same age seems beneficial in some cases.
[name]Love[/name] your names, we share a very similar taste in names, even Apoline, although i liked [name]Apollinia[/name].
My daughter is [name]Luella[/name] [name]Plum[/name], and my friend [name]Felicity[/name] named her daughter [name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Honey[/name] ( they call her [name]Honey[/name] [name]Bee[/name])
[name]Love[/name] your names, we share a very similar taste in names, even [name]Apolline[/name], although i liked [name]Apollinia[/name].
My daughter is [name]Luella[/name] [name]Plum[/name], and my friend [name]Felicity[/name] named her daughter [name]Beatrix[/name] [name]Honey[/name] ( they call her [name]Honey[/name] [name]Bee[/name])