Tell us what matters most in adoption research Are you an adopted person? A friend or family member of someone who is? Or a professional with adoption expertise? Help decide future priorities for adoption research in this 15-minute survey, developed with adopted people. You’ll be entered into a £100 prize draw. www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_01a26aEWIuhUozI

Dr Helen Littleboy, Associate Professor at Royal Holloway University of London, film producer/director and a member of the adoption community, invites fellow adopters to join a participatory research project and help shape the answer to the following question: How we can we use the media in a safe and ethical way to educate society about the impact of early trauma on our families? The research team are giving parents with lived experience the opportunity to shape the answer to this question and would love to hear from members who are interested in taking part. The project is running in May and June 2026 and there are three ways to get involved: Small, in-person workshops for those living in the Greater London area. In-person home visits with a researcher for those living in North East England One-to-one, online conversations with a researcher If you would like to participate, please email Helen: Helen.Littleboy@rhul.ac.uk

I am making a podcast about adoption, to raise awareness and talk about peoples experiences within and around the adoption process. I have already had collaboration with social workers, organisations and  adopted individuals. I have brought in my own experiences of being adopted and this has become especially important as I have just turned 18. This brought up lots of different emotions around adoption and how I want to move forward as an individual. I am doing this podcast with my school, Queen Ethelburga's, this is completely separate from my studies. This has been completely my own work.   You might be adopted or be an adoptive parent or looking into adoption or just generally working around the topic. I need you to help spread the narrative/story around adoption.   I am looking for your help for my last episode, I am working towards a 6 episode podcast. The last episode will be called looking forward. I want to collaborate with many different individuals to build a story or  statements that I will read out. This is to encompass a wide range of people experiences, thoughts and advice which I will read. I am not completely sure how I will organise all of this, but I want it to be a powerful piece that everybody helped with. Helping ourselves and others understand things around adoption and how we can move forwards.   I am going to attach a google form, this is where you will be able to fill in the necessary information. All of your data, like your name, will not be read out. When you answer the questions I would like you to write in first person. This is going to allow me to have some continuity around the story. Within the episode it will be explained that there are many people collaborating on the topic.   I would love for you to share, either this email or the google forms, to make a diverse response for my podcast. I hope all of this makes sense and if you have any questions or would like to talk to me further on the topic please let me know. I am happy to help!   When the podcast is released, I will reach out to you again and share the link so you are able to listen to it.   Here is the link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdEjxber7CJrmOczv35DwUFIgxZkOKp03gjfNLAEl5j9MgNLg/viewform?usp=dialog   Thank you so much for reading my email and possible collaborating with me. I am looking forward to see everybody's response.   Lucy Born between the lines- Lucy's Adoption story.

Ellen Watts from Adopters Advocacy at Lancaster University is inviting adopters who have adopted siblings in the past 15 years to participate in her research project, 'Exploring adopters' mental health and support needs when adopting siblings together.' To participate, email Ellen here.

For more information, email f.hill1@lancaster.ac.uk Although the researcher uses the term "adoption disruption" in the research invitation, they are seeking input from any adoptive father whose child or children have left the family home prematurely. This includes families who are parenting at a distance.

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Adoptee Quality of Life survey - Research via University of Sheffield Complete our questionnaire, to help us understand what makes a good quality of life for adoptees in England aged 16-25. You can sign up and take part here: http://bit.ly/3XAtmIr You can find out more about the project here: https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/adoptee-quality-of-life/home

E-LAB Study Advert: We are recruiting adolescents (aged 13 – 17) who are adopted/separated from their biological parents and have lived in local authority care or experienced significant trauma, and their parents/guardians, to help us understand how early life experience impacts the brain and behaviour. For further details please contact: mhmpsych@manchester.ac.uk

Link to the survey We know that loneliness can be a huge challenge for many adopted young people as well as their parents and carers. We think it’s really important to better understand the needs of adoptive families in order to develop effective support, so through this study, we are looking at the factors that may be causing or maintaining loneliness to help us achieve this in both adoptive and non-adoptive families. We have developed a survey and would love for you to complete it if you are a parent or carer of a young person aged 17 or under. If your child is aged 10–17, they can also complete a questionnaire, however, it is completely fine to take part as a parent/carer only.  To say thank you for taking part, there is an optional prize draw for 1 of 5 £20 Amazon vouchers!