As fostering is a role that is inevitably ‘more than a job’, it can be difficult to consider that the choice to become a foster carer or foster parent is anything more than a heart motivated decision to ‘give back’. Yet, in reality, making the choice to foster is also a decision and may lead you to a new vocation that also transforms your life. Make no mistake, in your quest to explore how to become a foster parent, you will swiftly realise that it is a change for everyone in your household – effectively, you become a foster family, which most definitely sets it apart from most career considerations!
If you listened in to the recent BBC radio 4 programme about people making transformative career decisions, you will have heard people talking about the new lease of life their career detour brought them. You may be considering a change in direction, perhaps you have become disillusioned with what it means to live a fulfilling life, or maybe you have an overwhelming urge to nurture children and young people who really need be be greeted by a nurturing home. You may have recently stumbled upon the notion of fostering, or this may have been something you have thought about ‘on and off’ over the years and now seems to be the right time for you to pursue fostering. It could be that now, your own children are grown up and have ‘fled the nest’, or maybe you have recently retired or have been made redundant.