Western Bay Adoption Service marks ten years bringing families together

Award-winning Welsh poet, Rhian Edwards, produces poem with the adoption community in Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea to celebrate 10 years of the adoption service.
This National Adoption Week (October 21 to 27), Western Bay Adoption Service (WBAS) is celebrating its adoption community and ongoing support to families as part of the National Adoption Service for Wales 10-year anniversary.
Locally, WBAS are hosting a special creative workshop and community event for their adoption community that will form part of a national showcase at the Norwegian Church Arts Centre on November 6, 2024.
WBAS hopes that by sharing local adoption stories and challenging misconceptions, more people across Bridgend, Neath Port Talbot and Swansea will consider adoption.
“Before hearing stories from our local adoption community, I believed so many misconceptions”

Last month, the Western Bay adoption community met on Aberavon Beach to share stories and write words they associated with their adoption journey as a piece of beach art. Award-winning Welsh poet, Rhian Edwards, then took these words and stories to produce a poem titled ‘Tethered’.
This piece will be performed by Rhian as part of the live showcase for the wider adoption community, local politicians, and professionals, alongside an adopter panel discussing their
experiences.
Rhian, whose debut collection of poetry, Clueless Dogs, was named the Wales Book of the Year in 2013, explained why she wanted to get involved in the project:
“It has been both humbling and an honour to be invited to write a poem in collaboration with Western Bay’s adoption community, on the subject of their experiences and journeys.
“Prior to learning about their stories, I never appreciated the process could happen so quickly, nor did I realise that single parents, such as myself, could become adopters. It was also really heart-warming to read the testimonials from LGBTQ+ families as well, who previously thought they could or would never become parents.
“The work of Western Bay is truly incredible. They are changing people’s lives, not just giving children homes, but giving adopters family.”
Martin Michaux-Trask adopted a little boy with his husband, Josh though Western Bay Adoption Service in 2020. The couple say they started to think about building a family unit soon after they legally wed in 2015.
“In 2019, we attended PRIDE Cymru together and came across the Western Bay adoption team at a stand – we had such a great talk with them, and it led us to later put in an enquiry with them.”

“Our little boy came home during COVID, it was quite a difficult time to manage the big change in their life as they were not able to receive in-person support, however, Western Bay was fantastic in supporting us virtually. They even contacted our local MP, who helped grant an extension of our ‘social bubble’ so our wider family could also care and support our family as both Josh and I worked on the healthcare front line.”

“We are so happy that adoption has given us our cheeky little boy and we’re looking forward to extending our family with a new addition – our son is so excited become a big brother!”
The National Adoption Service for Wales was established in 2014 to improve services for all those affected by adoption in Wales. Since its inception, the service has placed 3,000 children for adoption with 2,300 families, supporting adopters and adopted young people through the process and beyond.
In Wales, around 18% of the population are directly connected to adoption*. Currently, there are around 4,500 adopted children and young people and around 7,000 adopted adults living in Wales. NAS has helped many people to access their birth records, trace relatives, and contact birth families.
Jodi Farley-Morris, Operational Team Manager at Western Bay Adoption Service, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the strong adoption community we have built here over the last 10
years, with both English speaking and Welsh speaking adopters being supported by our service as they extend their families.”
“We are always here to answer any questions that people may have and urge people who are considering adoption to take that first step and make an enquiry today.”

If you would like to make an adoption enquiry, visit: https://www.westernbayadoption.org/