Adoption is the legal process by which:

• A child who cannot be brought up by their own parents becomes a full and permanent member of a new family.
•  A child legally takes the adopters surname.
•  The adopters gain full parental responsibility of the child.

Adoption is a very important step which should not be undertaken without very careful thought and preparation.

The process of adopting a child can be long, usually six months to over a year. This gives you time to learn about what adoption involves and to begin to make the changes in your lives.