ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at their role and, associated with that, the impact on the birth family of the loss of their child. It outlines different opportunities for them to be involved in the network around the child, and explores ways that professional practitioners can support a collaborative partnership with them. The chapter focuses on the birth families of children who are adopted or in foster placements. In adolescence or young adulthood, many looked after and adopted children have an urge to reconnect with their birth families, particularly if they have had no ongoing contact. Once a child is adopted or in permanent foster care, other meetings between social workers or therapist and birth family members are rare events, unless there is a need, for example, to review contact arrangements or collect material for life story work. The most obvious context in which birth relatives are involved is in the direct contact that might take place between child and family members.
