Adoption: The Blame Game

File on 4 Investigates discovers a world of lies and blame within adoption in the UK. The BBC has conducted the most extensive Freedom of Information request ever into adoptions that have broken down, finding that more than 1,000 adopted children in the UK have returned to care in the past five years. That is much higher than the figure in a recent government report - but the true number is likely to be even larger, as only a third of authorities said they collected this data as standard practice. Some adoptive parents say they’ve been given so little support that they’ve been forced to return their children to the care system. This programme explores the scale of the crisis as we hear from parents pushed to the limit, a teenager returned to care and a social worker giving a rare view of the system from the inside. Producer: Ashley Kennedy & Claire Kendall Reporter: Judith Moritz Sound designer: Richard Hannaford Production coordinator: Hattie Valentine Editor: Tara McDermott (Photo: Close-up portrait of couple Verity & Ian standing outdoors. Credit: Brij Patel) Details of advice and support with adoption are available at

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Adoption: The Blame Game is an episode from File on 4 by BBC.

This episode is 37:37 long.

This episode was published on Nov 28, 2025.

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