Walk Together

Walk Together focuses entirely on adoption in the UK, supporting mothers, fathers, children, and anyone connected to the adoption journey. We understand that adoption can be emotional, complex, rewarding, and challenging all at once, and our aim is to create a space where every part of that experience is acknowledged.

We publish weekly blogs covering everything and anything to do with adoption: family life, identity, attachment, school, trauma, birth family contact, and the realities of parenting before, during, and after adoption. If there’s a topic you’d love us to explore or an area where you feel more guidance is needed, please get in touch. We’d be very happy to add your ideas to our content plan.

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A father reading a bedtime story to his child, representing the quiet co-regulation children need from adoptive parents after contact days

The hidden hangover of contact days, and how to help your child afterwards

Most adopters know the contact day itself can be hard. What is less often talked about is the 48 to 72 hours afterwards, when the regulation that held during the meeting starts to come undone. This is the contact day hangover, and it is one of the most consistently underestimated parts of adoptive parenting.

Aug 75 min read

A pile of vintage letters tied with twine alongside an old photograph, representing traditional letterbox contact in adoption

Letterbox contact in the age of social media and DNA tests

Letterbox contact was designed in a world without Ancestry, 23andMe, Instagram or TikTok. None of those existed when most current letterbox arrangements were put in place. What that means in practice is that the slower, intermediary-managed version of contact most adopters were prepared for no longer reflects the actual landscape your child is growing up in.

Jul 315 min read

Why adopted children can want birth family contact and fear it at the same time

Many adopters describe the same scene. Their child asks something curious about their birth family, then within hours becomes anxious, irritable, or completely silent when contact is mentioned. The wanting and the fearing seem to switch on at the same time. They do.

Jul 245 min read

Two figures walking together on a countryside path, viewed from behind, symbolising the long view of birth family contact in adoption

What three decades of research now tells us about birth family contact

When you sat in your preparation groups, the assumption may have been that less contact was safer. Three decades of research, and a major shift in UK practice guidance in 2024, now suggest something close to the opposite. This post walks through what the long view of the research really shows, and what it means for adoptive families now.

Jul 178 min read

When siblings don’t bond: navigating the reality of adoption and sibling relationships

Sibling relationships are complicated. This is true in every kind of family - birth, adoptive, foster, blended - and it always has been. The idea that brothers and sisters naturally grow close, become each other’s confidants, and form an unshakeable bond across a lifetime is a romantic one, and reality is frequently messier.

Jul 1011 min read

Top twenty questions adoptive parents are afraid to ask

Adoption advice for supporting your child’s questions about their past

This blog is not about life story tools or theory. Instead, it is about the everyday reality of adoption: the conversations that happen in real time, when a child looks you in the eye and asks something you may not be ready for. Here, we share practical adoption advice grounded in the experiences of UK families, what has worked for them, what they wish they had known earlier, and how you can prepare yourself to respond with honesty and care.

Sep 19, 20254 min read

How adoptive parents can talk about difficult or unknown parts of their child’s story

This article offers adoptive parent advice grounded in developmental psychology, attachment theory, and trauma-informed research. Rather than broad suggestions, you will find concrete, emotionally safe strategies to use when creating or revisiting a life book with your child. These approaches help children process emotions, ask questions, and hold uncertainty, while strengthening their relationship with you as their adoptive parent.

Sep 12, 20256 min read

Supporting young children through contact: A calm and informed approach

For adoptive parents, few things feel as delicate or as loaded as helping a young child navigate contact with their birth family. It is not just about managing logistics or following what was agreed in a contact plan. It is about guiding a child through something they can feel but may not yet fully understand.

Jul 25, 202510 min read

The risks and benefits of direct contact for adopted children

This blog attempts to offer some clarity on the risks and rewards of direct contact. We explore what direct contact really means, when it can help, where it can be harmful, and how to make informed, child-focused decisions that reflect both emotional wellbeing and long-term development.

Jul 18, 20256 min read

Navigating letterbox contact: Emotional and practical strategies

In this blog, we explore what letterbox contact really means, how it can affect adopted children, and what you can do as a parent to support your child’s emotional wellbeing throughout. We also offer ten in-depth, practical strategies you can use at home - even if you are feeling unsure or overwhelmed yourself.

Jul 11, 20255 min read

Adoption through the eyes of birth parents: What we rarely talk about

In this blog, we explore adoption through the eyes of birth parents, offering a compassionate and evidence-informed look at their experience, and why their perspective matters.

May 23, 20256 min read