Post Box

Why have an adoption Post Box? 

Many adoptive parents and birth relatives have expressed a wish for further information after an Adoption Order has been made.

Also, adopted children may benefit from post box contact with their birth relatives.

If you are an adopter:

• Post Box can give answers to your child’s questions based on more recent information

• It can help with information that may not have been available at the time of the Adoption Order (e.g. an hereditary medical condition)

• Post Box can help to support the child through the journey of adoption

If you are a birth relative:

• Receiving Post Box can give you information about your child, their health and progress

• It can help maintain links with your child

• It gives the chance to inform the child about changes in your own life

• Post Box can help you prepare for the possibility of contact once your child becomes an adult

If you are an adopted child:

• Post Box can help you to understand more about your background

• It can keep up links with important birth relatives

• It will let you know about changes and major events in your birth family’s life

• Indirect contact can help prepare you for the possibility of future direct contact when you become an adult
  

How does Post Box work? 

Post Box allows for news to be sent at a planned time, which is agreed at the time of the Adoption Order.

This agreement is between the adopters, the birth family and the Adoption Agency.  It is normally once a year.  This is usually a letter and photograph, which the adopters send to the Adoption Team. 

Birth relatives named in the agreement are then contacted to let them know that post has arrived. It is then left to the birth relatives to contact our office. Post Box will then be sent out to the birth relative by recorded delivery.

Can birth relatives send Post Box? 

Some agreements may include other named birth family members, who can contribute to the Post Box. This can sometimes be a letter or a card.

Any Post Box from birth relatives will be monitored by the Adoption Team before sending it to adopters.

What should the adopters include? 

The information you send will depend on who you are sending it to and their past relationship with your child and, perhaps, with yourselves.

You may like to send news about:

• Your child’s health and development

• Their progress at school

• Their hobbies and interests

• Their looks and personality

• Their friendships

• Any changes in your family, e.g. new brothers and sisters

• Holidays and major events

You may want to send questions or pictures from the child themselves if this was in the Post Box agreement. 

There may be times when it isn’t easy to send information.  But please remember your child may benefit greatly from these communications.

The Adoption Team can help adopters and birth relatives with letter writing, either in private at the office or a home visit. 

FAQs about Post Box

A: Due to the volume of Post Boxes we have to process we are not able to forward gifts to children in adoptive placements.

Q:Can birth relatives other than birth parents write in? 

A: Yes, if they are named in the original agreement when the Adoption Order is made.

Q: What happens to post if birth parents not collect Post Box letters? 

A: All letters will be kept in the child’s Post Box until they reach 18 years old. Lots of birth parents find it hard at first to read their letters and may not collect them regularly.

Q: When does it finish? 

A: Post box finishes when the child turns 18 years old. Uncollected letters then go into the adoption file, which the child may access with the support of a Social Worker.

Q: What if we have a problem? 

A: Adoption Services East Midlands has a Post Adoption Support Team which can be contacted with any issues relating to your agreement.

• Back to the top >>
• Contact Adoption Services East Midlands >>
• Adoption Services East Midlands home page >>