Gateshead mum shares reason why she created a magazine for prospective parents this National Adoption Week

Suzy Stanton, founder of We Made A Wish magazine
-Credit: (Image: 2022, RJM Photography)


'The Journey', is the theme for National Adoption Week (October 21 - 27) - aiming to showcase how each adoption journey is unique and celebrating all of the people who help adopters navigate the progress.

One Gateshead mum familiar with the process, is sharing her own story on becoming a parent, and why she decided to create magazine We Made A Wish for others looking to think about adoption after struggling to find resources.

Suzy Stanton, a former Legal Advisor explained how adoption was 'always something on her radar,' having managed adoption cases in the magistrates court. However it wasn't until having sadly experienced infertility, that Suzy and her husband John decided treatment wasn't for them and began to consider other options.

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"When we started thinking about adoption, I was struggling to find resources of books, blogs and articles written by adopters that shared what the process is really like," Suzy explains: "Whilst I knew a lot about it, my Husband didn't. The agency gave us facts but I wanted to know so much more, and trying to find information twelve years ago there wasn't much around."

Suzy and John who began the adoption process at the end of 2012, shared an insight into the process of how they were matched with their eldest daughter: "We first went to an information session for our local authority in the December. In the following March we were then assessed on multiple things like DBS, credit, employment and attended training sessions to see if we we're able to provide a safe home."

Suzy and John Stanton's daughters
Suzy and John Stanton's daughters

"We then went to a home study in the spring and our allocated social worker came to the house. Most people might not be aware but we had to undergo five meetings as a couple and one individually. Then by the September we went to panel."

"Panel can feel intrusive and its the most bazar experience - made up of social workers and foster careers who essentially decide whether you can be a parent." But Suzy explains however daunting a panel was to be approved: "The whole point is you are going to take on a child who has already experienced trauma, so the process is in place to make sure you can parent safely."

"We naively thought from there we'd have a child matched home for Christmas 2013, but it wasn't until 10 months later we were matched with our eldest daughter, who was only six months old. After a second panel she came home with us in October 2014."

The couple were then later matched with their youngest daughter in October 2018, after being asked if they'd like to be assessed, and feeling settled: "Our younger daughters process was a totally different experience. It was a much quicker process, she was born in the April and we took her home in the October.

"It was also stressful as both our daughters shared the same birth mum, so our oldest daughter had to be told and we had to be assessed again."

The girls are now aged 10 and six
The girls are now aged 10 and six

Suzy, who has a diploma in Copywriting, decided to start the blog not long after their eldest daughter came home, that since evolved into a digital magazine in 2019. "I wanted to create something to help others wanting to find out about what it’s really like to become a parent."

We Made A Wish is one of the only resources of its kind in England and reaches over 2,000 potential adoptive parents a month. Whilst adoption magazine shares similar stories, readers are required to be a member, and so when searching for resources in those first crucial stages, We Made A Wish is a valuable outlet.

"I wanted people to have an insight as one of the most important things when considering adoption is hearing the stories of those who have went through the process themselves and have first hand experience. The magazine provides people that are thinking about adoption resources to make an informed decision," Suzy adds.

The magazine supports anyone thinking about adoption, as well as to those whose children are with them, looking for resources to help them parent their kids who have experienced early life trauma. Suzy and John are an perfect example of a family who have provided a loving home for their own daughters, who are now aged 10 and six.

There are currently over 80,000 children in Care in England, with over 2200 waiting to be adopted. Over 70 of those children are in the North East, but less than half that number of approved adopters are currently available, as families are being encouraged to consider adoption following an 'unprecedented decline in rates'.

To find out more about adoption or starting your adoption journey, visit the Adoption England website here.