CoramBAAF Conversations

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Adoption & Fostering 27 | ‘You think it’s your own parenting, don’t you?’: The experiences of adoptive parents of care-experienced children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder in England

As part of the Adoption & Fostering centenary podcast series marking 100 years since the Adoption Act 1926, co-presenters Dennis Golm and Anthony Green are joined by Dr Alan Price and Professor Raja Mukherjee to discuss their article, “You Think It’s Your Own Parenting, Don’t You?”: The Experiences of Adoptive Parents of Care-Experienced Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in England.

The conversation explores what Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is, how prenatal alcohol exposure can affect children’s development, and why FASD remains widely under-recognised despite being one of the most common causes of neurodevelopmental difficulties. Drawing on research with adoptive parents, the episode examines the challenges families face when seeking diagnosis, support and understanding from education, health and social care services. Alongside these challenges, the discussion highlights the strengths, talents and potential of children and young people with FASD, and considers how greater awareness, earlier intervention and strengths-based support can improve outcomes for children and their families.

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To mark 100 years since the Adoption Act 1926, this episode of the Adoption & Fostering podcast explores the complex history of domestic adoption for racially minoritised children in the UK. Co-presenters Dennis Golm and Anthony Green are joined by Dr Derek Kirton, whose article traces more than 50 years of debate, policy change and practice development in this area.

The conversation examines key milestones, including the British Adoption Project and the Soul Kids campaign, and explores the rise of ethnic matching policies, the controversy surrounding transracial adoption, and the concept of institutional racism within adoption services.

Drawing on research evidence, lived experience and contemporary frameworks such as ARIT, the discussion considers what is known about identity, belonging and outcomes for adopted children. The episode concludes with reflections on current challenges and practical recommendations for government, adoption agencies and practitioners working to create a more equitable and culturally responsive adoption system.

Read the article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03085759261462194  Explore the Adoption & Fostering Journal: https://corambaaf.org.uk/resources/adoption-fostering-journal

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As part of the Adoption & Fostering journal's special centenary issue, this podcast explores what adopted people and their families need from post-adoption support, both now and in the future. Hosts Anthony Green and Dennis Golm are joined by researchers Mark Kennedy and Andrea Bujor to discuss their article, Post-adoption support needs and implications for future practice: a systematic review. Drawing on evidence from 76 studies across several countries, the review brings together research on the challenges and support needs experienced by adopted people throughout their lives.

The discussion covers key themes including mental health, trauma, attachment, neurodevelopmental conditions, education, identity, loss and grief, and contact with birth relatives. The authors reflect on how these needs often overlap and change over time, highlighting the importance of support that extends beyond childhood and into adulthood.

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This episode of the Adoption and Fostering Journal Podcast introduces the July 2026 issue, offering key insights for academics and social work professionals. 

Editor in chief Dennis Golm discusses David Zammitt and colleagues’ work on fetal alcohol syndrome disorder diagnoses. Noting that this is the first study of FASD in Scotland and that the UK has one of the highest rates of prenatal alcohol exposure in the world, Dennis discussed the difficulty of diagnosing the condition and the continuing stigma attached it, which can impact the way in which adoptive parents and their children are treated. 

Other articles in the issue under discussion include work on adult adoptees, including a study on how they themselves deal with being parents, and a timely study on the mental health of children looked after before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.  

There are also legal notes reviewing recent cases in the Scottish and Northern Irish courts and a Health Note on the sometimes overlooked importance of oral health as part of initial health assessments for children in care. 

CoramBAAF 

We are the UK’s leading membership organisation for professionals working across adoption, fostering and kinship care. We provide information, best practice guidance, advice, training and resources to support our members and influence policy to improve outcomes for children and young people. 

In this podcast, we are joined by Legal Consultant, Alexandra Conroy Harris and Adoption Consultant, Jane Poore as they discuss CoramBAAF’s recent role as intervenor in a High Court Case: Confidential Prospective Adopters v BM & Ors.

The discussion unpacks some of the legal and practice issues surrounding a potential disclosure of Annex A reports in court proceedings. CoramBAAF intervened in this case to highlight the potential consequences of a legal decision on the disclosure of the Annex A report, as well as the potential impact this precedent would place on practitioners, agencies and, most importantly, children and families.

Join the discussion to understand how court interventions work in practice, the role we play in representing our members, and the wider context of legal decisions on the adoption sector.

Effective Fostering Panels is available to buy in our bookshop: https://corambaaf.org.uk/books/effective-fostering-panels In this short interview, Publications Manager Jo Francis sits down with Independent Consultant, Elaine Dibben to discuss the revised and updated Effective Fostering Panels published April 2026.

We discuss how fostering panels have changed since the book’s first edition in 2003 due to evolving policy and practice level; particularly in relation to kinship care. Equally, how the book remains a crucial resource to support panels facing high turnover of members and the importance of maintaining consistency in recommendations. Elaine also shares her expert insight on the role of fostering panels in today’s fostering services, the crucial safeguarding role they play, and top tips for panel members, chairs and advisers.

Listen to the author interview for details on:

About the book

The revised and updated effective fostering panels is for panel members and social workers. It is a guide that brings together all the information you need to know about regulations, standards and inspections concerning fostering panels.

It also sets out good practice to agencies in the operation of effective panels, relevant to all fostering service providers. Although the fostering regulations apply in England only, agencies in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will find much of this practice applicable to their work.

This revised edition covers recent changes in practice around areas such as virtual panels, and includes a fully updated and expanded chapter on considering kinship foster carers at the panel.

This episode of the Adoption and Fostering Journal Podcast introduces the April 2026 issue, offering key insights for academics and social work professionals. Editor-in-Chief Dennis Golm discusses a major randomised controlled trial on the Reflective Fostering Programme, highlighting its impact on carers’ reflective functioning, stress, and burnout, while noting more mixed findings for child outcomes. The discussion emphasises the importance of evidence-based interventions in foster care. 

The episode also explores research on conduct difficulties in children in care, comparisons between local authority and independent fostering provision in the UK, and international perspectives on adoption. Studies from the United States and Pakistan examine birth mothers’ motivations for adoption and the impact of stigma on adopted adolescents. 

Overall, this issue brings together large-scale, global research addressing complex challenges in fostering and adoption, with important implications for policy, practice, and future research. 

In this episode of the CoramBAAF Conversations podcast, James Bury speaks with Professor Samantha Baron, Interim Chief Executive of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), about the identity and future of social work.

The conversation focuses on the importance of social work as a values-led, relational profession grounded in ethics, professional judgement and advocacy. We also discuss the role of membership organisations for social workers across the UK, including influencing policy, supporting professional development and strengthening the collective voice of the profession.

Despite continuing pressures on the social care system, the discussion highlights the continued impact of social workers in improving people’s lives and the importance of maintaining a strong professional identity, confidence and voice across the sector.

In this episode, Adoption & Fostering Production Editor, Vicky Walker, and Editor-in-Chief, Dr Dennis Golm, are joined by Professor Nick Midgley (University College London) and Expert by Experience, Jackie Tripp, a kinship carer. Nick and Jackie talk about the Reflective Fostering Programme, an intervention designed to help carers support the children in their care. The Programme was evaluated as part of a large-scale randomised controlled trial, which showed that it was not only beneficial for carers, reducing stress and burnout and improving the carer–child relationship, but also cost-effective. While Nick outlines the study and its findings, Jackie describes its life-changing impact on her as a participant in the Programme. 

For related resources and more episodes visit our website: https://corambaaf.org.uk/resources/corambaaf-conversations

In this episode, Vicky Walker and Dr Dennis Golm speak with three of the authors of the article Mental health status of orphans and vulnerable children in residential institutions in a city in South-West Nigeria from issue 3 of Volume 49 of ‘Adoption & Fostering’. 

The authors describe the different types of residential institution for children in South-West Nigeria and the conditions in them, the mental health needs of the children looked after by these institutions and the availability of mental health assessments and services. They call for greater advocacy and training to enable screening and referrals within the institutions and earlier interventions.

Dr Mercy Aladegboye, the lead author of this paper, is a research nurse currently working with University Hospitals Dorset, Bournemouth, UK. She obtained her PhD in Nursing from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. She’s also a fellow of the capacity for strengthening abortion research in Nigeria (CSARN). Mercy is passionate about using research to transform health care and promote wellbeing for all ages. This has inspired her keen interest in conducting clinical research and producing publications on vulnerable populations.   

Dr Adekemi Olowokere is Professor of Community/Public Health Nursing in the Department of Nursing Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.  She is a registered nurse-midwife and public health nurse specialist with the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria. Her research interests focus on alleviating vulnerability, debility and mortality among underserved populations in Nigeria. She is a fellow of the African Women Research Observatory (AfWORO).   

Dr Abiola Komolafe is a senior lecturer in the Department of Nursing Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. She is a registered nurse-midwife, and a public health nurse. She obtained her Bachelor of Nursing Science, Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Community Health Nursing from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Her research activities focus on sexual and reproductive health across the lifespan with a special focus on maternal and newborn care, and implementation science.