Being partly adopted, as a child I often wondered how life had turned out had my mother left me with my grandparents. Had I been the one to choose, I am sure my childhood would have turned out less wounding.

Certainly, foster parents do a great job in a huge number of cases. But if there are family to do that job instead, whom would you choose?

In the UK, approximately 25,000 grandparents over the age of 65 raise 30,000 grandchildren, saving an estimated £1.4 billion each year in foster care bills. Approximately 200,000 family and friends care in the UK raising 300,000 children. Rates of breakdown in adoption placements can range from 10-50%, depending on the age and needs of the child. Older children, tend to be harder to place for adoption.