Adopting a baby or child
Very few newborns are adopted each year in the UK — around 2 per cent of all adoptions are of children under one. Most children adopted through UK domestic adoption are aged between one and four at the point of placement.
The reality of baby adoption in the UK
Adopting a newborn in the UK is rare. Last year, around 96 children under the age of one were adopted — just 2 per cent of all adoptions. Most children adopted through domestic adoption are between one and four years old.
We think it's important to be honest about this from the start. Many people come to adoption hoping to welcome a newborn, and it's a natural hope — particularly for people who have been through fertility treatment. But the reality of UK adoption is that babies are uncommon, and the families who do adopt babies have usually taken a specific route to get there.
This doesn't mean adopting a young child is out of reach. It means adjusting expectations about what's most likely and thinking clearly about what you can and can't be flexible on.
Most people who come to us wanting a baby end up adopting a young child, and in almost every case they tell us afterwards that the child they adopted was absolutely right for their family.
— Khalida
Why newborns are rare
When a child is taken into care, the courts first try to place them with birth family or wider kin. Only when those options have been investigated and ruled out can the court consider adoption. This process takes time — often many months.
Court process takes months
By the time the court grants a placement order, a match is found, and introductions are complete, the child is typically at least six to eighteen months old.
Direct hospital placements are rare
Very few newborns move directly from hospital to adoption, and those that do are almost always placed with families already approved for early permanence.
Young children and sibling groups
For most adopters, the realistic options are:
- Young children aged roughly one to three
- Sibling groups, which often include a younger child together with an older one
- Early permanence, where a baby is placed with approved adopters who are acting as foster carers while the process to determine if the child should be adopted is completed
Young children aged one to founr are the most common age group placed for adoption in the UK. These are children who are old enough that they've spent some time in foster care, but young enough that they're still in the very early stages of development when they join their adoptive family.
Sibling groups are another important route. Many adopters who originally wanted a single young child end up adopting siblings — often including a younger child of around one or two alongside an older child of three or four. Sibling groups can be one of the most rewarding routes to adoption, and children who are adopted together tend to support each other in ways that make the transition easier for everyone.
Early Permanence
Early permanence is a specific route designed to allow a local authority to place a child with adopters who are willing to act a foster carers until it has been decided if the child should be adopted and if it should be adopted by the family it has been placed with.
If the court decides on adoption
The placement becomes permanent and eventually converts to adoption.
If the court decides on a different outcome
Such as the child returning to birth family — the placement ends.
The most direct route to a baby
It's also the most emotionally demanding, because the outcome is genuinely uncertain at the start. Not every adopter is the right fit for this route, and not every local authority uses it.
What you can do to be considered for younger children
If you're hoping to adopt a younger child, the single most important thing is flexibility. Adopters who are open to a wider range of ages, backgrounds, and needs are matched faster and with more choice.
In practice, this means:
- Being open to an age range rather than a specific age. Being open to children aged zero to three is significantly more realistic than insisting on zero to one
- Considering sibling groups — particularly groups that include a younger child
- Thinking carefully about any restrictions you want to set on birth family background. Some adopters want to rule out children whose birth parents had mental health conditions, used drugs or alcohol during pregnancy, or belong to a specific background. These restrictions are entirely your decision, but each one narrows the pool of children who might be matched with you
- Considering early permanence if a baby is really important to you and you think you are able to manage the uncertainty and the risk of the baby being taken away from you in the event that the local authority and/or court decides to place it elsewhere.
We'll talk these through with you during Stage 1 and Stage 2. There are no right answers — adoption is about finding the child who fits your family, not fitting your family to an idealised child.
"Khalida went above and beyond. She made the time to get to know us and that is why she was able to find us the perfect match. We are now a Mum and Dad to three amazing children."Charlotte and MatthewJigsaw adopter feedback forms. View methodologyThe realities of adopting a young child
Every child who comes into care has experienced some form of loss, even children too young to remember it. A child adopted at 18 months has been through more transitions in their first two years than most adults experience in a decade. Some will arrive with attachment needs, developmental delays, or early effects of trauma that only emerge over time.
Preparing for this is a core part of what we do during Stage 1 and Stage 2. We don't train families for an idealised version of adoption — we prepare them for the reality of parenting children whose early lives have been complicated. Most Jigsaw families tell us afterwards that the preparation was harder than they expected and more valuable than they could have imagined.
Practical details
Read more about the specifics:
Thinking about adopting?
Fill in our interest form and a member of our team will be in touch.
I'm interested