Adoptee gives back to SSAFA who helped him become a dad

03 March 2023

SSAFA assists service parents and veterans through the adoption process and delighted parents are now giving something back. Andy Wilson, from Leeds, is running the London marathon to help the charity to help raise awareness and vital funds.

Andy, and his wife, Stacey, found they couldn’t conceive while Andy was serving in the Army. Andy had been posted to Germany, further complicating their journey to parenthood and making the thought of adoption almost impossible. Or so they thought.

Andy said: “When we found out we couldn’t have children naturally we started to explore adoption and thought ‘why not?’. I am adopted so it wasn’t difficult for us to see the benefits. We weren’t sure how it would work because we were posted out in Germany. Fortunately, SSAFA runs a worldwide adoption service and, before long, we were matched with our lovely son, Aaron.”

A couple of years later the new family were posted back to the UK and considering a new addition.

Andy says: “Although we were now based in the UK and could have gone through a local authority or UK based adoption agency, we decided that we had such a positive experience with our adoption through SSAFA that it made perfect sense to ask for their support again. This time we were matched with our gorgeous daughter, Ruby. We really feel like our family is complete.

“Of course, there are always going to be issues. We have had some behavioural hiccups to deal with and problems with schools, but SSAFA’s support workers have been there at every step, helping us though any hard times.”

To say ‘thank you’ to SSAFA for all its help, Andy is running the London marathon in April. He needs to raise a minimum of £2,500 and is looking for sponsors.

Andy says: “It’s not the running that bothers me, I’ll make it around; if I get injured I’ll crawl if I have to, but I’m aiming at getting around in less than 4.5 hours. The thing I’m most worried about is the fundraising, so I’m looking for sponsors to give me boost.”