Family being torn apart by granddaughter being adopted

It is a shame when these stories hit the headlines because we can never know what the full story is - I always think that before we judge we should ask ourselves what we would do if we were in the shoes of the SWs and the judge and had the responsibility for making a decision that would affect the whole of that child's life. Not so easy.

There is always a gamble - or educated judgement - and it is not an exact science.

nina not a daft question. Plenty of grandparents, aunties, uncles etc bring up relatives' children without any involvement from Children's Services. As long as there's no risk from a family member and everyone agrees that's all fine. Children's Services presumably became involved in this case because the mum had mental health problems and wasn't well enough to look after her child, she didn't agree to her parents doing so, and Children's Services then had to go to court to get a decision on the child's future. For reasons we still don't know, despite the tit for tat reporting, the grandparents were ruled out by the local authority at an early stage.

I think it's good that they will now get proper legal representation and the case will be heard by a Family Court judge - I can't think of anyone else who could decide at this stage in the proceedings. In my experience Family Court judges are usually very experienced, sensible, and often pretty confident about not blindly following recommendations if they think assessments have been flawed. No use speculating any further IMO.

Btw, the grandparents will not be adopting their grandchild. That doesn't happen any more, because it was recognised a long time ago that these kind of adoptions created very mixed up relationships which was detrimental to a child as they grew up. Grandparents in this position usually get a Special Guardianship Order and remain grandparents, not parents.

I think there must be other issues here - primarily the danger of contact with the natural parent which would be difficult for grandparents to deny. Perhaps a brand new start is what is required.

Have a look at this one about the "dangers" of misinformed press releases.

“The grandparents of a three-year-old girl have been blocked from adopting her because they are ‘too old’”—Daily Mail, 21 July 2015

This sort of reporting is a fine example of why a number of us here on GN have "issues" with the general style of a lot of the DMs output. The DM bashers as we seem to be thought of.

fullfact.org/factcheck/law/too_old_adopt-46740
This link give the full details of the court judgement.

Thanks Nelliemoser for this link.

Yes,
Think this puts paid to the age thing.
- Thank goodness.

Thank you NellieMoser.

But.... did any of us really read it in the Daily Mail? I for one read the judge's ruling , linked to in the BBC News article. Surely the only way to decide for yourself?

To decide, perhaps one would need to have ALL the facts- and we as the public never will. I'm glad most who have read the facts we have been given, came to the same conclusion as the Judge.

As Luckygirl so rightly said -'educated judgement and not an exact science'. Let's hope this child will grow in peace.