Developing a Post-Adoption Groupwork Service for Non-Consenting Birth Mothers

Abstract

Jenny Jackson writes about an informal group-work service offered by Support After Adoption for birth mothers whose children have been in care and then adopted. The service described in this article began in 1998 in Nottingham and is now being extended to the Mansfield area. Jackson outlines the background informing the development of this service, including links with other agencies working in this way, the options considered and chosen, and the aims and value base of the service finally offered. She describes the composition and process of the group as it developed and the themes which emerged. Finally, she offers workers' and participants' evaluations of what these birth mothers gained from the group, highlights some of the learning outcomes for Support After Adoption and considers ways in which the team hopes to take this work forward.