Thursday 3 and 10 November, 9pm
(repeated 7 and 14 November, 3am)
This two-part series goes to the heart of what it is like to be put up for adoption from the perspective of the children seeking new families.
Programme one, transmitting during National Adoption Week, focuses on Daniel, Rhiannon and Sean – three young children who share their moving and personal experiences from being in care to finally moving into their new and permanent homes. Made over the past 18 months, the makers of this film, like the children themselves, had no idea where the journeys would take them.
The children have all been taken into care by Northamptonshire Social Services and because they are not babies they are deemed 'hard to place'. Most adopters want babies. As this film highlights, Northamptonshire Social Services are pioneering a scheme, called 'Parents for Children Night', to persuade adopters to consider older children.
Programme two follows the stories of two sets of brothers: Robert and Scott, aged seven and six, and David aged eight and his five-year-old brother Tommy. The film focuses on an agonising decision facing all social workers: whether to place siblings in separate foster homes and whether they should be put up for adoption together, or apart.
Wanted: New Mum and Dad offers a unique and moving picture of what the modern adoption process is really like – through the eyes of those whose lives it is designed to transform.
Find out about organisations involved in adoption and fostering, including those from the programme.