The High Court has refused an application by the Child and Family Agency for authority to allow Ms A, Miss B’s foster-carer, to adopt her without the necessary parental consent. Mr Justice Max Barrett delivered the judgment on 27 June 2022, when Miss B was about 10 weeks from turning 18.
The application was made under section 54(2) of the Adoption Act 2010. The judge said Miss B’s natural father had played no meaningful part in her life and had filed no affidavit. The central issue was the refusal of consent by her mother, Ms C.
Miss B had lived with Ms A since she was four months old. The judge praised Ms A’s care and noted that Miss B wanted to be adopted by her. But after meeting Miss B, he was not persuaded that she fully understood how adoption would affect her legal relationship with her mother. He pointed to her description of adoption as a way to live with Ms A “forever”, and to the fact that she would soon be an adult and able to make decisions about where she lived and whether to change her name.
The judge also considered the Agency’s handling of Ms C’s contact with Miss B. He found serious shortcomings, including periods without an allocated social worker, missed opportunities to respond to Ms C’s requests for information and more contact, and a failure to make adequate efforts to support or rebuild their relationship. He said the foster-carer should not be criticised for the Agency’s decision to leave contact arrangements largely to the two women.
In assessing the statutory test, the judge said he could not conclude that there was no reasonable prospect Ms C could care for Miss B without prejudicing her welfare. He was also not persuaded that the State should supply Ms C’s place as a parent, or that adoption was a proportionate way to do so. He considered that the proposed adoption offered no clear practical advantage so close to Miss B’s 18th birthday, while it would sever the legal link with her mother.
The court declined to make the section 54(2) order. The judgment did not decide any separate application for wardship, which the judge said might or might not succeed.