KINWARD

Supporting the person behind the adoption process.

Adoption services guide prospective parents through information, assessment, training and matching. For someone arriving after infertility, this practical journey can also carry grief, uncertainty and a changing sense of identity.

KINWARD explores how emotional support could sit alongside the adoption process: recognising what a parent has lived through, preparing for this particular child, and making the beginnings of a relationship visible.

An identity transition, not a single milestone.

Story-based research, adoption journey mapping, ritual precedents, a child-perspective interview and stakeholder conversations with Coram informed the service concept.

Three connected needs shaped the design: acknowledging the fertility journey without erasing it; finding support during waiting and uncertainty; and recognising parenthood through repeated acts of care.

A staged toolkit, introduced at the right moment.

The service pairs a guide for agencies and social workers with three stages for parents. Acknowledge the Past uses reflection and symbolic materials. Prepare for This Child introduces scenario cards and prompts. Continue Becoming uses a digital companion to record small moments of care.

A pause in the adoption process is treated as a supported branch of the journey. Parents can choose when to engage, with flexible participation rather than a prescribed emotional endpoint.

• Acknowledge: reflect on past experience and choose what to carry forward.
• Prepare: explore everyday parenting situations through cards and objects.
• Continue: notice and record small changes in the parent-child relationship.

Make the prompts clearer. Make participation flexible.

Coram stakeholder feedback highlighted the need for clearer prompts and stronger interaction with the materials in Stage 1; more adoption-specific scenarios in Stage 2; and clearer stage-by-stage guidance for agencies.

The feedback shaped clearer guidance for agencies and more flexible participation for parents. The developed outcome brings together the physical toolkit, digital companion and a proposed service blueprint.