Fostering vs Adoption: Differences and Similarities of Foster Care and Adoption
Make an informed choice about fostering vs adoption. Learn about differences and similarities between foster care and adoption with Foster With North East.
Are you considering fostering versus adoption and wondering which is right for you? While fostering and adoption both offer a way to change a child's life, the two which are often confused are, in reality, distinctly different things, though they can sometimes be interlinked.
If you're not clear on the ins and outs, we will walk you through the similarities and differences between foster care and adoption. Expect to gain a better understanding of what each could mean for you or your family, so you can make a reasoned decision about what your next steps should be.
At Foster With North East, our regional fostering support hub team provides help and guidance to potential foster carers, which means we answer questions like 'is fostering the same as adoption?' every day. Let us guide you through what you need to know. But first, a few UK fostering and adoption facts:
UK adoption and fostering facts
Government figures show a steady increase in children entering care in the UK, and that's reflected here in the North East.
Last year, 83,630 children in the UK were in the care of local authorities, 51% with a foster carer who was not a relative or a friend.
The average age of a child at the time of their adoption is 3 years and 4 months.
What is the main difference between fostering and adoption?
The most significant difference between fostering and adoption is who holds legal responsibility for the child(ren) you look after. When you adopt a child, they become a permanent member of your family. You gain parental responsibility for that child, allowing you to make decisions about their care. From significant decisions such as moving home as a family and what school to attend to which doctor and dentist they go to.
As a foster carer, whether short-term or long-term, you would not have parental responsibility for the child. Instead, parental responsibility is held by the local authority or shared between the local authority and the birth parents.
Foster carers work alongside a professional team and follow a child's agreed care plan. Day-to-day, this means you are likely to need to request permission to do some things, such as take the child on holiday abroad. As a short-term foster carer, you may also support a child when they move to their adoptive family.
Differences between foster care and adoption
Some differences between foster care and adoption to be aware of are:
The length and time of the care arrangement
Adoption is permanent, whereas fostering can be short-term or long-term. You can even opt to be a foster carer for a few hours, a weekend each month, or during holidays. It is also possible to take short breaks from fostering.
Age of children
It is possible to adopt babies and older children but the average age of a child at the time of adoption is around 3 years. It takes time to properly assess what's best for the child and for an adoption order to be made. Fostering is for children of all ages from birth up until the age of 18.
Some foster carers also support parents and children to stay together through parent and child fostering. Many older children in long-term fostering arrangements now choose to stay with their foster family through Staying Put arrangements once they turn 18.
The process
Whether you become an adoptive parent or a foster carer, you can expect to go through a thorough application process. The services and professionals involved will carry out criminal record and other background checks. They will want to get to know you and your motivations and explore the fit for you and your family. You will need to meet certain requirements, for example, foster carers need to be over the age of 21.
However, there are naturally some differences in the processes due to the legal side of adoption. A typical adoption process can take 6 months, whereas you can expect the fostering application process with our Foster with North East partner councils to take around 4-6 months.
Training
In both roles, you will take part in compulsory training. Training for fostering and adoption share the goal of preparing carers to nurture and support children, yet each takes a distinct approach tailored to the journey ahead. Fostering training focuses on equipping potential foster carers with practical tools for managing day-to-day care, working with social service teams, and supporting a child through transitions or reunification with birth family.
It covers topics like
trauma-informed care
safeguarding
maintaining contact with a child's family
and adapting to varied lengths of supporting a young person.
In contrast, adoption training focuses on the lifelong commitment of becoming an adoptive parent, including the process of bonding, understanding a child's history, and addressing the emotional aspects of adopting a child for good.
It often includes support for:
navigating the legal process
managing post-adoption identity and attachment issues
and building a new family dynamic.
Both training courses are rooted in compassion and resilience, but each is designed to address the unique realities of fostering or adoption.
The team around you
A foster carer is a paid role where you'll work alongside other professionals from your fostering team like your own fostering social worker, children's social workers, education experts, and therapists. Being an adoptive parent is an unpaid role, and while you are likely to have pre and post-adoption support, and relationships with social workers and even foster carers, the ongoing setup and processes are different.
For instance, as a foster carer collaborating with our Foster with , you will benefit from continual training and opportunities to enhance your skill set and advance your professional development.
Financial support
As a foster carer, you are self-employed and receive a fostering fees and allowances. Our North East council fostering service partners also offer a range of other benefits to support the lifestyle and wellbeing of you and the children you care for.
Adoptive parents don't receive the same financial support, though you may be entitled to a one-off or ongoing adoption allowance depending on the needs of the child. There is also a UK adoption support fund. If you meet specific eligibility criteria and funding is available, this could give you access to therapeutic support for an adopted child through your local authority or regional adoption service.
Parental leave
Leave entitlement to give you time and space to settle a child into your home also differs. Adoption leave is a recognised employee benefit in the UK. There's no official 'fostering leave'; however, we do work with employers and businesses across the region to encourage fostering-friendly approaches.
Long-term foster care versus adoption
When people want to grow their families, they often consider the options of adoption and long-term fostering, which is sometimes called permanent fostering. Both offer ways to offer long-term love, care, and support to a child or young person.
In long-term fostering, a child or young person is likely to have a care plan to stay with you until 18, unless there are any significant changes. By mutual agreement, it may be possible for foster children to stay with you beyond this age under what is called Staying Put arrangements.
As a foster carer, you will receive financial and practical support to assist you in looking after the children in your care, and our Foster with North East partners are the largest fostering community in the North East. Most of our council partners also offer you the opportunity to be part of Mockingbird fostering groups. These mimic an extended family network. As an adoptive parent, you are likely to have support from your adoption service and charities that support adoptive parents.
The role of a foster parent versus an adoptive parent
Just like an adoptive parent, as a foster carer, you'll be there to care for a child or children. As a full-time foster carer, you would be there each day. You might be there for their first day at school, cheering them on from the sidelines of an important sports match or helping them to navigate the world of school and friendships as they grow.
You will also help a child to develop the skills they need for the future, while nurturing them to feel that they belong and safe. The The importance of building trusting foster care relationships cannot be overstated. Through your support and care, children can begin to rebuild their sense of security and self-worth, learning that positive connections are possible and that they matter.
Many fostering families and individual foster carers tell us they see the children they look after as part of their family. They also recognise the importance of the birth family, with which the young person may still see or maintain a relationship through visits, letters, photographs or phone calls.
In a closed adoption, the child has no contact with their birth family. But most often adoption can also involve maintaining contact with a child's birth family which is pre-agreed and appropriate to the needs of the child.
Can foster carers adopt a foster child?
Fostering is not the usual route to adoption in the UK. There are some instances where children and young people have been adopted by foster carers following a change in their care plan, for example, if reunification with their family is no longer possible. In the North East, there are foster carers who have continued to foster after becoming adoptive parents like parent and child foster carer, Joanne.
We also have carers who have come into fostering after becoming aware of the role of fostering when they've adopted a child. Every family is different, and as part of your fostering assessment, your assessing social worker would discuss your family's circumstances and the needs of the children in your household.
What is foster to adopt?
Foster to adopt is a type of adoption where prospective adoptive parents are also assessed as foster carers to allow them to care for babies and young children while local authorities explore the best option for their future care.
Foster to adopt, also known as early permanence, is an adoption route where approved adopters foster a child while courts and local councils explore the best option for their future care. This approach lets adopters build an early relationship, provides continuity, and supports secure attachment, but there is uncertainty until the court rules. The child may stay with their carers and be adopted, or they may return to their birth family.
At Foster with North East, we support potential foster carers throughout the fostering application journey and our relevant adoption partners Adopt Coast to Coast, Adopt Tees Valley and Adopt North East, offer Early permanence or foster to adopt.
Because local authorities try to find suitable foster carers within their fostering services first, many council foster carers do care for babies like Julia and Mark:
"We have the photographs just pictured on the wall so we can remember their little faces, and we filled the three picture frames nine in each and that's why I know it's 27."Julia and Mark, foster carers for 27 babies.
Some foster carers, like Leigh, consider adoption before choosing fostering:
"My mum said, Why not foster? Why don't you look into that? So it was her who put the idea in my mind, and I think it has worked out really well. It's given my daughter that sort of sibling relationship, even though it's not full-time and it's not forever.
"I also think it's made her grow up to be a more empathetic person, to have more patience and to understand that some families aren't like our family and some children don't have all the nice things she has had growing up. It has really made a difference, I think." single parent foster carer, Leigh
5 steps to help you decide if adoption or fostering is right for you and your family
While foster care is not the same as adoption, it's unsurprising that the life-changing potential of both interests individuals and couples who want to commit their time and energy to children. Deciding whether to foster or adopt is a personal decision that means carefully considering your situation, motivation and goals for the future.
Here are five steps you can take to help you work out what's the right choice for you:
Take some time to explore our website to learn more about fostering. Our fostering stories from foster carers and children are a great place to start.
You can also download our fostering information guide to learn about the ins and outs of fostering at your own pace.
Sometimes, it helps to speak to others about how they made their own decisions and what their lives are like. Our foster carer buddy scheme gives you the opportunity to chat with a foster carer and ask them questions.
When you attend a fostering events online or in your area, you can learn about the different types of fostering, the challenges and rewards and talk to fostering teams and carers.
Our fostering experts are here to answer any questions you might have about foster care and help you consider whether it might be right for you. Call 0800 771 771 or enquire online now, and we'll get back to you.
