October is #Sonsanddaughters month, an annual campaign to celebrate the vital contribution the sons and daughters of foster carers make to foster care.
A question we’re sometimes asked is: ‘Can I foster if I already have children?’
Many people are worried about the potential impact fostering might be on their birth children. That it could be a major barrier to becoming a foster carer.
The reality is that many children benefit from being part of the support network surrounding a child welcomed in by a foster family. Seeing life from another’s perspective can be an enriching experience. It can help a child learn and develop as an individual. Vital skills such as empathy and sharing are improved greatly.
It isn’t always easy to adjust to sharing your home with other children, but the sons and daughters in RCT do a fantastic job. They go over and above to make children in care feel welcome, safe, and part of the family. Even the ones that were hesitant to begin with!
How do children of foster carers really feel?
Rebecca’s parents are foster carers in RCT. She shared her experience of growing up in a foster family:
“Growing up in a foster family was a great experience for me. I wasn’t an only child and so was always brought up to share and our home was very sociable. When my parents started fostering it became even more so.
My sisters and I were in primary and secondary school and we used to be so excited when we knew that a new foster sibling was going to arrive. It was always an exciting time and we loved welcoming another friend to play with. If we were in the same school, we would try and help them fit in and settle quickly.
It was always hard saying goodbye when our friends moved on, but most of the time we knew they were going back to their families or to a new home, and would be happy.
We are still in touch with some of our foster brothers and sisters, and it is great to see them and know that our family was able to help them when they needed us.
Some brothers and sisters came and went, and we haven’t heard from them since, but I still think about them and hope everything worked out well for them.
I ended up joining a sports club a few years ago and one of my foster sisters was in the same club and we enjoyed being in the same team again!
It taught us so much; to share, not to judge, to be patient, to try to be kind, to look out for others. There was unlimited love in our house – more than enough to go around and to share!”
Thank you
Here at RCT we would like to thank Rebecca and all of our sons and daughters of foster families for everything they do.
If you’d like to learn more about fostering, please visit our common questions page. You can also contact us for a chat on our enquiry page too.
