Adopter stories
PACT has been operating as an independent adoption charity since the 1950s and has helped to grow hundreds of families.
Many PACT families have agreed to share their adoption stories with us. Click on a family below to read their story or use the filter to search for particular family situations.
* Some names and details have been changed for confidentiality reasons
Mel and Julia adopted two boys
Julia* and Mel* are a lesbian couple who adopted two boys, aged 20 months and six months, through PACT...
NHS workers Phil and Gareth adopted Ben
Phil* and Gareth* are a same sex couple who adopted their son Ben* through PACT in 2019...
Zena and Jamie adopted Rico when he was two-and-a-half
Zena* is of mixed white New Zealand and Maori heritage and Jamie* is white British. They adopted Rico*, who is also mixed heritage, at age two and a half...
David and Hannah adopted three children under four years old
Curate David* and his wife Hannah* adopted three children under four years old through PACT...
Chloe and Dan adopted baby Megan through PACT’s early permanence scheme
Chloe* and Dan* adopted Megan* through PACT following a Foster for Adoption placement. Megan was five weeks old when she was placed with them...
Gemma and Phil adopted five year-old Emily and her baby brother
After adopting five-year-old Emily*, Gemma* and her husband Phil* were approached by PACT a year later to see if they could adopt Emily's new baby brother...
Michelle and Phil adopted their second child Charlie through the early permanence process
Michelle* and Phil* have a five-year-old adopted daughter, Mia*, and are now applying to adopt 21-month-old Charlie* who they have been fostering...
Theresa adopted seven-year-old Sadie and Lara
Theresa* adopted Sadie*, who was seven years old, through PACT in 2014. Three years later she adopted seven-year-old Lara* through a local authority...
Emma adopted Josh through PACT’s early permanence scheme
Emma* adopted Josh* through PACT in 2018 when he was nine-and-a-half months old following a Foster for Adoption placement...
Same sex couple Jonny and Michael adopted brothers Harry and Leyton
Jonny* and his partner Michael* approached PACT following the advice of New Family Social, the UK network for LGBT+ adoptive and foster families...
Melody, who is a vicar, adopted siblings aged seven and six
Melody*, who is a vicar, adopted two brothers, seven-year-old Harry* and Ethan*, six. She said: “I knew I had a lot of love to give children...
Sandra and Rob became grandparents for the first time through adoption
Sandra* and Rob* became grandparents for the first time when their son George* and his partner Andrew* adopted siblings through PACT...
George and Andrew adopted siblings Cait and Oliver
George* and Andrew* adopted siblings Cait* and Oliver*, aged eight and six, after first seeing PACT at Brighton Pride...
Hope and Nigel adopted two sisters
Hope*, 44, and her husband Nigel*, 46, adopted sisters Summer* and Rachel* through PACT in October 2015. Summer was just under two-and-a-half years old and Rachel was 16 months old...
Jill and Sean adopted William who has additional needs
Jill* and her husband Sean* adopted William*, who has a chromosome disorder and severe development delay, because of Jill's experience as a special needs teacher...
Susan adopted nine-year-old Leyton
Susan* adopted nine-year-old Leyton* through PACT after seeing a poster appealing for adopters in the waiting room at her GP’s surgery...
