Children of Foster Carers week 13th - 19th October 2025...
- all4u99
- 15 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The 13th to 19th October marks a very special week as we and The Fostering Network celebrate the important role birth children of foster carers have... We are very lucky to have staff on our team who are not only very experienced in their role, but who have also had first hand experience of fostering in their own families. Stuart our fabulous Supervising Social Worker had this to say about the subject ...
"Being the birth child of foster carers was never something I expected to experience. My parents didn’t begin fostering until after my brother and I had moved out, so I never had to share my childhood home or my space with foster children. In some ways, that made things easier — there was no sense of displacement or “that used to be my room”.
Even so, it took time to adjust. Walking into my parents’ house and seeing other children there felt strange at first. Watching my mum and dad care for them stirred up all sorts of emotions — pride, curiosity, and at times, protectiveness. When I thought a child was being unfair or giving my parents a hard time, my instinct was to step in and shield them. It was only with time that I realised this wasn’t my role. This was their job — and just as I wouldn’t have intervened if they were working in an office, I had to learn to step back and trust them to handle it.
Over the years, they cared for many children. Some stayed in touch, others didn’t — and I came to understand that endings are different for everyone. What struck me most was the difference my parents made, the sense of stability and safety they could give to children who needed it.
That experience shaped me more than I realised at the time. It inspired me to follow in their footsteps in my own way — I too became a foster carer before choosing to complete my social work degree and to build a career as a supervising social worker, supporting foster carers who are now doing for other children what my parents once did, or still do as shared lived carers."
