Rejected petition: Give siblings in care the right to maintain contact after adoption
Rejected on
Change the law so that children in care do not automatically lose contact with siblings who are adopted. Siblings should have their views considered and, where safe and appropriate, have the right to maintain meaningful face-to-face contact and relationships after adoption.
When a child in care is adopted, their brothers and sisters can lose meaningful contact with them. I have personally experienced this with 3 siblings. One was adopted when I was 2, and at 14 my twin brother and sister were adopted. I now only have 2 letters a year and no face-to-face contact until they are 18. This petition calls for stronger rights for siblings to maintain safe, meaningful contact after adoption.
Why was this petition rejected?
We can't publish petitions when the request is something that's already happening or something that has been announced since you started your petition.
We think your petition is covered by Government or Parliament action already. If you'd like something else, you could start a new petition clearly explaining what it is.
Under new legislation which amends the Children Act 1989, all local authorities in England and Wales will be required to promote and facilitate contact for children in care who are separated from their siblings.
Section 10 of the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 will put sibling contact on the same footing as contact with parents, guardians or those previously authorised to care for the child, who are already covered by the section 34 duty.
Section 34 of the Children's Act 1989 has a duty to "allow the child reasonable contact with their parents or guardian, etc.
You can read more about this here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2026/21/section/10/enacted
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.