Fertility and adoption

PACT is one of the largest adoption charities in England and was rated as outstanding by Ofsted three times in a row in 2014, 2017 and 2023. We recruit, prepare, approve and support adoptive parents to create loving, safe and secure homes for children waiting in care.

PACT has extensive experience of helping to create families with people who have explored alternative routes to parenthood first. We understand that many people also explore fertility treatments, surrogacy, sperm or egg donations as a way of having children.

Here at PACT we know that families are made in many different ways and each of them is special. We understand the challenges that there can be when hopes to have a child do not happen as first planned and it takes time to think about another way of growing your family.

Blog: fertility and adoption

“We are here ready to listen to your story and consider with you whether those hopes to be a loving parent could happen through adopting a child or children who need a family.”

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PACT is looking for people to become parents to the children who wait the longest for adoption. Find out more about the children waiting for a permanent family.

PACT offers support for life to its families and will support parents and children every step of the way. Our support services include our Strengthening Families Team, the Children And Trauma Community Hub , our Adopter Champions team, support from our Education Lead, our Family And Children Therapeutic Support (FACTS) service and a range of training and support events.

We recommend you download our Guide to Adoption as a first step and get in touch with our team and speak to one of PACT’s Enquiries Officers. They can give you some more information, answer any questions you may have and book you onto a  PACT Adoption Information Event where you will hear a bit more about the adoption process from PACT social workers and a PACT adopter will share their story.

Our Enquiries Line is open 10am-5pm on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10am-8pm on Tuesday and Thursday, and 10am-1pm on Saturday. You can also fill in our enquiry form here.

We welcome enquiries from people across the south of England. We have teams located in Reading, Oxford, London, Milton Keynes, Brighton and Devon.

Adopters story: Lily and Alex

Adopters Lily* and Alex* began their adoption journey with PACT after one failed round of IVF and a subsequent round which unfortunately ended in miscarriage. Their gorgeous daughter Cassie* came home to live with them in 2020.

Speaking about why they considered adoption after IVF, Lily said,

“We just didn’t want to wait any longer to start our family; we knew from experience that biological connection is in no way essential for strong and loving familial relationships to flourish. We decided to give ourselves some time to recover emotionally from the IVF process so we could start our adoption journey the following year.”

*Names changed for confidentiality purposes

Adopters story: Ruth and Oli

Ruth and her husband Oli adopted their daughter in 2018 after many unsuccessful cycles of IVF and a miscarriage. They said meeting their daughter for the first time was one of the best moments of their life.

“We hardly slept the night before. As soon as we saw her little face, she became the love of our lives. “

Their story was featured in The Sun’s Fabulous magazine.

Read about some of our families who adopted after exploring fertility treatment

Each year, PACT attends The Fertility Show in London to speak to people who are considering growing their families about adoption. To find out more about The Fertility Show, visit their website.