Why choose us?

Thinking about adopting or fostering?

We recognise that adoptive and foster carer parents come from a variety of backgrounds, and welcome enquiries from everyone who can provide a nurturing environment for a child to grow in.

Our lifelong adoption and fostering support means we will always be there to help you through any challenges.

black man playing with child

Why adopt or foster through St Andrew’s Children’s Society?

You’ll receive a warm and speedy response to your adoption or fostering enquiry.

You have experienced social workers supporting and guiding you all the way through the process of adopting or fostering your child.

We’ll help you to find the right child for you, not just from the local area, but searching throughout the UK. The average age of children placed with our adopters over the past 5 years is 2 years 7 months.

Your chances of adopting a baby are increased by participating in our Concurrent Care scheme.

You’ll receive the support you need to be the best adopter or foster carer you can be for your child.

This support is available to you throughout childhood and beyond, for as long as you need it. This reflects what we know about the lifetime nature of adoption for children and their families.

We help you to get the best legal advice and support to adopt or foster your child. Legal costs incurred during the adoption or fostering process should be met for the most part by the local authority that placed your child with you.

The average timescale for your home study is only 7 months.

two white men feeding toddler

Did you know?

You can adopt or foster regardless of your sexuality, ethnicity or faith, if you already have children living at home, if you are over forty, and if you are single or in a relationship.

The children we place come from very varied religious and ethnic backgrounds. Their family experiences are also very varied so we need to recruit adopters and foster carers from all walks of life who have a range of skills and strengths.

We run support groups for adults and young people as well as a variety of ongoing training opportunities for our adopters and foster carers.

All our adopters and foster carers can access a Gold Membership to New Family Social  free of charge through us from the time they reach the assessment stage and beyond.

Wherever you are in your adoption or fostering journey please contact us today – we want to hear from you. Making the initial step can be daunting, but by filling in our enquiry form you could start your journey today. 

2 women outdoors with child

Peter explains why he and his partner chose St Andrew’s Children’s Society for their adoption journey

If your settings don’t allow our closed captions to display automatically, just press the closed captions button at the foot of the video .

Please tap the video if the icon isn’t showing.

Take the next step now!

One of our social workers will then contact you.

Alternatively, please call us on 0131 454 3370 (if you live within 60 miles of Edinburgh) or 01224 878 158 (if you live within 60 miles of Aberdeen or Elgin) or email info@standrews-children.org.uk and we’ll send you an enquiry form to complete and return.

If you have any questions or are unsure if you can adopt or foster through us, please contact us anyway using the details above to speak with one of our social workers.

6 sets of colourful wellies in a row depicting family

St Andrew’s Children’s Society armed us with training, assessed us as capable parents to an adopted child, then journeyed with us during the matching process. They were on hand following placement with many incredibly useful hints and tips on how to handle an array of situations.