Publisher's Synopsis
This report draws on material obtained during the "Pathways to Adoption" research project which investigated difficulties in the process of adopting children. It examines the use of freeing orders, where the natural parents lose all parental rights in respect of a child in the process of being adopted. The researchers found wide disparity in the use of freeing provisions. They also discovered that it took an average of nine months to obtain a freeing order, causing unnecessary delay and anxiety to all concerned.
