Adoption orders can be made
in a
variety of different
circumstances: adoption by a stepparent, private adoption (directly with the birth mother), or
public adoption (fostering to adopt, i.e. adopting through the local authority) but
in each case the Court is concerned with whether making the order is
in the child's best interests taking account
of the rest
of his or her whole life.
Although
public welfare legislation often uses very broad and general terms
in order to promote
public safety
in a wide
variety of circumstances, this does not allow for an interpretation
of these provisions without reasonable limits.