Visit out bookshop

Sign up to hear about the journal

This episode of the Adoption and Fostering Journal Podcast introduces the July 2026 issue, offering key insights for academics and social work professionals.

Editor in chief Dennis Golm discusses David Zammitt and colleagues’ work on fetal alcohol syndrome disorder diagnoses. Noting that this is the first study of FASD in Scotland and that the UK has one of the highest rates of prenatal alcohol exposure in the world, Dennis discussed the difficulty of diagnosing the condition and the continuing stigma attached it, which can impact the way in which adoptive parents and their children are treated.

Other articles in the issue under discussion include work on adult adoptees, including a study on how they themselves deal with being parents, and a timely study on the mental health of children looked after before and during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are also legal notes reviewing recent cases in the Scottish and Northern Irish courts and a Health Note on the sometimes overlooked importance of oral health as part of initial health assessments for children in care.