Wanting the age to adopt a child to be 18 or 19

Former Member

Hello I am 20 nearly 21 and I have been thinking in my mind about wanting to adopt a child or wanting the age to adopt a child and other things that have a minimum age requirement of 21 or 25 to be lowered to age 18 as 18 is the adult age in this country and most other countries. I don't know why not many countries have a minimum age of 18 to adopt a child as 18 is an adult at the end of the day and we can do many things at age 18 too like become a police officer, work as a nanny I think, get married, buy cigarettes, alcohol, fireworks and many other things drive most types of vehicles, gamble and vote? I just wish that people would listen to me more and understand what I am saying too.

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Past User

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Dancer

You have to be financially stable and have a good home with a spare bedroom which can be hard to do at age 18 or 19. I do like the idea though.

Former Member

Well Meggles I have read on the internet about the minimum age to adopt a child and it still says that someone still has to be 21 or over to adopt a child.

Former Member

I do find it quite fascinating that you may have a child at a young age but can't adopt one until your much older.  But I believe it is about having that sense of maturity. Financial stability. And having enough proof of identity as there are various DBS checks etc  xo

An adopted child be also be rather vulnerable and so requires more checks and paperwork

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Former Member

Hey @Sholay09

It's an interesting point you raise about the discrepancy between the legal age where you can have sex (and consequently bear a child) and the legal age for you to adopt.

My question would be, what is making you think it's so important to be able to adopt now? Rather than waiting a few years, and making sure your mind is truly made up about adoption? 

Hope you have had a peaceful holiday season. 

Former Member

According to the Gov website, (https://www.gov.uk/child-adoption) - You do have to be 21 years or older, often this is the age where people leave full time education, are able to support themselves financially and emotionally and are mature enough to go through the process of adopting. Often young children going through the adoption process have had a difficult up-bringing, are in a position that really they shouldn't be in. 

You do make a great point about the age to have sex and become pregnant and rear an adopted child, unless you've been planning on adopting since the age of 12 and are full on certain you want to adopt, people need time to think and process and go through the process of adopting a child. 

I think at the age of 18, you are still too young to deciding for certain whether or not you want to adopt a child, I know myself at that age, I was getting pissed most nights with my Uni friends. 

Former Member

I do quite half understand in what you are saying when you said that you think that 18 is still too young to know for certain when it comes to adoption Aurora but the reason why I said I would like for it to be 18 because the United Nations only consider a child to be someone under the age of 18 and also because 18 is an adult and should have all the rights and freedom of adulthood without any restrictions at all.

Former Member

Well Aidan 21 and 25 is still quite the same as we can do a lot more things at those ages. Also we become adults way before the age of 25 and I still don't get that we can do most things at age 18 but not the rest in which it does not make any sense and it is quite weird that rights and freedom even for adults comes at different ages. Also when we are adults we should not have any age restrictions applying to us anymore and we can do what we want to do with our own lives.