In this special feature we look at the One Adoption West Yorkshire Six Months In training, which is designed to help new adopters adjust to the realities of parenting. It is aimed at families who have had their children with them for around six months to 18 months. 

The podcast features Deborah who created and delivers the course. She is a social worker, trainer and experienced adoptive parent. Deborah is joined by Mike, an experienced adopter, who feels his family would have benefited from this training had it been available when he first adopted, and Tammy and Stephen, who say the training turned their lives around. 

In this episode we're talking about something that plays a big role in many people’s decision to adopt — faith.  Whatever the religion, or a broader sense of calling, belief can be a guiding force in adoption.

Our guests Kristina and David, know this first-hand. Their Christian faith gave them strength and direction at different stages of their journey. 

Their journey also took an unexpected turn when they were offered the chance to adopt siblings through Early Permanence - a path that brought both unique challenges and incredible rewards. We hear about how they embraced their role as Early Permanence carers and learnt a lot through meeting their children's birth mum. 

In this episode we meet Marika and Stephen, who adopted a sibling group of three, last year. As well as hearing about what it was like to become a family of five overnight, we also explore some of the perceived barriers to adoption felt within Black communities. 

In this episode we meet Serena who is a recently approved adopter, currently going through the matching process. Serena was supported through the training and assessment by her dad John. 
Serena shares her experience of the training and assessment process, approval panel and the matching process. 

In the latest episode of One Adoption Chat we meet Jenni and Marilyn who are a bi-racial couple who adopted a little girl who has a different ethnic background to themselves. They speak about their expectations prior to adoption, what preparation they did and what advice they would give to other prospective adopters. 
We also meet Shazia who is a One Adoption West Yorkshire social worker who leads the TRECS online support group. TRECS is for adopters who have adopted a child of a different, race, ethnicity or culture to themselves, and is open to adopters across the country. 

In our special edition of One Adoption chat we explore LGBTQ+ adoption. 
We meet Jono and Grace who have both adopted twice with their partners, and share how they  found the adoption process and being LGBTQ+ adoptive parents. 
We are also joined by One Adoption North and Humber team manager Cassy who shares how being LGBTQ+ is explored during assessment, what support you can expect and how the agency recognises and values the additional strengths being LGBTQ+ brings to being an adoptive parent. 
To clarify a point made in this episode, the Adoption and Children Act 2002 became law in December 2005, which gave same sex couples the same rights to adopt as heterosexual couples. 

In episode 9 of One Adoption Chat we meet Emma, who adopted school-age siblings, along with her husband, and then went on to have a birth child. 
Emma also provides some hints and tips for making Christmas and celebrations run smoothly for adoptive families.

In this episode of One Adoption Chat we meet Tim, who adopted a brother and sister two years ago. We talk about what going through the adoption process is like adopting as a single gay adopter.

In this episode we meet Nicole, who adopted a child who had significant developmental delay and has gone on to adopt his baby sister. 

In this episode we meet Amanda who started her adoption journey after initially going through IVF. We discuss Post Adoption Depression and what it is like adopting for a second time.