Conversation & discussion on contemporary Adoption & Fostering
Episodes
16 minutes ago
16 minutes ago
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast
In this episode I speak to adoptive parent and former foster carer Izzy, she shares her experience of adopting a child that she fostered as well as her experience of realising that her child was living with Pathological Demand Avoidance.
Izzy explains PDA and how it impacts children and families as well as sharing her own journey to running support groups and working to support other adoptive parents working to meet the needs of their children with PDA.
You can access the PDA website here and Izzy's Facebook page 'PDA in Adoptive Families' here.
As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Saturday Jun 28, 2025
Saturday Jun 28, 2025
Hello and welcome to episode 212 of the adoption and fostering podcast, as we creep into the summer madness is upon us so due to scheduling challenges we’re releasing an interview that we had with Dr Chris Burke in May with no #InfoBanter.
The issue of maintaining family links for children remains a complex one with everybody around children often having strong feelings, worries and concerns about what is in the best interests of children and how we should address the challenges. Chris has created a model for organising decisions around safe and meaningful contact for professionals and in this interview we discussed the hows and the whys.
You can see Chris' website here
We’ll be back to normal in the coming weeks, so stay well and as always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Saturday Jun 21, 2025
Saturday Jun 21, 2025
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast
In this episode I speak to adoptive parent Amiee, with her husband she proactively chose adoption and she shares their journey so far. We talk about the challenge of being linked with a child and the difficulties they experienced prior to finding their child.
As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Saturday Jun 14, 2025
Saturday Jun 14, 2025
In this episode of the A&F podcast we have a quick catch up then throw ourselves into the murky world of adoption and ethics. We may have fallen at the first hurdle but we are speaking as adoptive parents and we look specifically a the balance of morals and ethics within this world. We're not high minded lads so it's pretty rudimentary but we consider some of the challenged and consider the role of pragmatism. The court case we mention can be found here.
As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
Tuesday Jun 10, 2025
In this episode we talk about the idea of home. What does home mean to us, as individuals, as parents, as professionals? Is it a place, a person, a feeling?
We reflect on how our own experiences shape the way we support children and young people especially, those where home hasn’t always felt safe or secure. For care-experienced young people, home can be a complex and loaded idea, something longed for, feared, or never truly known.
As always you can connect with us through the following -
Instagram- BMBUltd
Facebook – Better Me Better Us
Email – info@bettermebetterus.co.uk
Saturday Jun 07, 2025
Saturday Jun 07, 2025
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast
In this episode I speak to adoptive parent Julie, she became a foster carer then adopted as a solo carer and has experience working as a professional in mental health and social care. Julie shares her experience and the challenges as professional dropped away as the local authority team moved to a regional adoption agency as well as the benefits of the adoption support fund.
Julie now support other families like hers through the not for profit Nurture Hub Therapy Service that she founded working with birth parents, adopters, and foster carers, understanding the unique complexities that these families face.
Julie writes:
'Nurture Hub is a specialist counselling and support organisation founded by Julie Ingram, a parent carer with an adopted daughter who has a background in social care and mental health. Nurture Hub Therapy Service works with birth parents, adopters, and foster carers, and we totally understand the unique complexities that these families face. The service is strictly not for profit offering low cost counselling and therapeutic groups to parents.
For more info don't hesitate to get in touch with the team via the website www.nurturehubtherapyservice.co.uk'
Saturday May 31, 2025
Saturday May 31, 2025
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast
In this episode I speak to Dan Boxall_Simpson a Foster Carer, special guardian and fostering panel member
Dan shares his experience of becoming a foster carer with his husband and how that opened up many of the things that came afterwards including the decision to become a special guardian for two of the children they fostered. Dan is now in the process of starting an independent foster care agency through a community interest company in his area to meet the needs of vulnerable children where he lives.
Website www.epicfamilycic.co.uk
Facebook here
As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Listen/subscribe on iTunes here Spotify here
Saturday May 24, 2025
Saturday May 24, 2025
Hello and welcome to the A&F podcast, we're in the same country so after a very busy day at the FASD Ireland Conf we took to bed (think Morecambe and Wise) and unpacked the day's events as well as catching up with the latest news from the world of adoption and fostering and house moves!
As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Saturday May 17, 2025
Saturday May 17, 2025
Hello and welcome to Conversations from the A&F podcast In this episode I speak to Tristian Smith a US care experienced adult. He shares his vivid experience of coming into the care system after a difficult kinship care arrangement. Tristian with his brother moved several times, experienced a failed adoption and then separation from his young er brother. It’s a difficult listen as he shares his story. Tristian now looks to support and encourage other young people in the care system and has written his experiences in his book Against All Odds.
As always if you’ve experience of adoption, fostering or special guardianship from any perspective personal or professional and would like share that on the podcast please get in touch through the Facebook page, BlueSky or email us at AandFpodcast@gmail.com
Saturday May 10, 2025
Saturday May 10, 2025
Hello and welcome to this third episode of Al's Churchill Fellowship. You can read the full report here.
In this podcast I reflect on conversations with carers and practitioners that support parents and children in the context of respite arrangements. It is a model of practice rarely seen in the UK and not available from statutory support services. The model of intervention explored from two settings in North America raised questions about perceptions of family and how intervening to rebuild and reform families can be an affective solution for some.
‘I came to the conclusion, if parents aren’t ok then kids can’t be ok.’
Tanya Eichler, Interwoven Connections Clinical Lead in the AFFCA Family Support Programme.