If you have thought “I am divorced and I want to foster” then you could be on the way to making a wonderful life changing decision. This could be a positive step for you and other family members that would compensate for disappointments of the past. A new young person requiring care and affection can inspire people with new goals and sense of purpose.
However, this is a big decision to make for anyone. We give the following advice to single people interested in fostering. If you are divorced and want to foster, but without someone you can depend upon to always be there to help out, then some or all of these points may apply to you:
- Be sure you will not be overstretching yourself, particularly if you have to manage work as well as family commitments. Fostering is very rewarding but can be challenging at times. When difficulties do come, it can be hard to meet them alone. We offer continual support and guidance to foster carers, but this is still worth bearing in mind.
- If you already have a child or children, you should consider discussing your decision to foster with them. There are advantages to fostering children of similar ages to your own and a new young person can be a real asset to a family that has seen rifts in the past. However, for parents that are divorced and want to foster, open discussions are important so that all the family agree on the way forward.
- Consider the age range of the child you would like to foster when deciding on being a foster parent. There are benefits to both young children, and young adults, all of which can be discussed.
If you are a divorcee (m/f) and would like to speak with us about fostering, or are simply looking for more information, Fostering2Inspire would be delighted to hear from you. Then if you do decide to go ahead, Fostering2Inspire will be on hand to support you at every stage of your fostering journey, from the first telephone call to the first day with your new young person and onwards from there.
There are several types of fostering that you could undertake which are listed in the What is Fostering? page of this website. Fostering a child will be life changing both for you and the child. You will learn as much about yourself and the important things in life as the child in your care will learn from you.