What Adoption Information and Resources Does Coram Provide?

Coram's website is the public face of a group of children's charities that traces its history to the Foundling Hospital, founded in 1739. Its adoption content is aimed at people considering adoption, at professionals who work with adopted children and families, and at anyone who wants to understand the wider adoption system. The site brings together three things: a dedicated Coram Adoption section, a programme of National Adoption Week activity, and downloadable research and toolkits. It is an information and support resource, not a step-by-step application portal — the site does not set out eligibility rules, fees or a full how-to-apply process.

The Coram Adoption section and National Adoption Week

The site's adoption material is anchored in its annual National Adoption Week programme. In the year covered by the site's current content, Coram marked the week with a portrait series created with the photographer Richard Ansett, who is himself adopted. The series launched on 19 October to coincide with National Adoption Week and the centenary of the 1926 Adoption Act. The site also lists related events and research under the same banner.

For a reader, this section is most useful as a way to see how adoption is talked about publicly and to find current campaigns and events. It does not, on the evidence available, function as an enquiry or matching service.

What the Adoption Propensity Report found

Coram's analysis of trends in the recruitment of adopters reaches a clear conclusion: the number of families available to adopt a child is substantially below the number needed for the children for whom an adoptive family has not yet been found. The report notes that this shortage sits in stark contrast to public attitudes to adoption and to the proportion of the public who say they would consider adopting.

That gap between willingness and actual adopter numbers is the report's central point. It is relevant if you are trying to understand why adoption agencies campaign for adopters even when surveys suggest broad public openness to adoption.

The Adoption Toolkit

Coram offers a downloadable Adoption Toolkit. According to the site, the toolkit reflects the lived experiences of Coram's ambassadors and also provides space for adoptees to use it as a tool for reflection, guidance and support. It is therefore aimed at two audiences at once: people who want to learn from others' experience, and adoptees who want a structured way to reflect on their own.

Other adoption-adjacent content on the site

The site's news section shows the wider context in which Coram's adoption work sits. Recent items include Coram Institute for Children research arguing that the government's target of creating 10,000 new foster care places over the current Parliament is realistic but must be paired with a focus on retaining existing foster carers; the London premiere of an anti-bullying documentary in support of Coram Kidscape; a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant of £954,650 for Speaking for Ourselves, a three-year programme preserving the stories of the UK's care-experienced movement from the 1970s onward; and the transfer of Potential Plus UK into the Coram Group. These are not adoption services, but they show the charity's broader work with children in and around care.

How to use the site

• If you are exploring adoption as a possibility: start with the Coram Adoption section and the Adoption Propensity Report to understand the demand for adopters and how adoption is currently framed.
• If you are an adoptee or supporting one: the Adoption Toolkit is the most directly relevant download, built around lived experience and reflection.
• If you want current campaigns and events: the National Adoption Week pages and the news section carry the most up-to-date activity.
• If you need practical eligibility or process guidance: the site's adoption pages, as described here, do not provide it, so treat Coram as a starting point for context rather than a complete application guide.

One caution: the site includes a checkout cart link, but nothing in the available material indicates that adoption information or the toolkit is paid or requires login. Check the download page itself before assuming either way.