What's it like to foster babies if you're LGBTQ+? Terry & Alex - a same-sex couple - do just this.

Their story kicks off the tenth series of New Family Social's podcast Adoption, Fostering & Tea.

You can check out this ep wherever you get your podcasts and catch up with some 60 previous instalments.

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Analysis of the latest figures by New Family Social shows that in Wales in the same year 1 in 4 adoptions were to same-sex couples. In England it stood at 1 in 6. While adoptions to same-sex couples in Scotland fell in 2022, both Wales and England saw increases in their figures.

‘This fall is truly troubling for LGBTQ+ Scots who hope to adopt,’ says James Lawrence, Head of Communications & Engagement at New Family Social. ‘In recent years Scotland’s adoption services have never matched the same proportions of LGBTQ+ people adopting as those in Wales and England. These new figures now show a worrying slide in both the proportion and also the actual numbers of adoptions to same-sex couples in Scotland.

‘We do know of isolated examples of good practice from individual agencies in Scotland – such as Scottish Adoption, St Andrew’s Children’s Society and Barnardo’s. In Wales and England there’s clear national strategies – and results – for recruiting and supporting LGBTQ+ adopters.

‘In Wales for example, all LGBTQ+ adoption applicants can access dedicated support through their assessment, matching and parenting – no matter which local authority they go on their journey with – thanks to our partnership with Wales’ National Adoption Service. Similarly all the adoption collaboratives in Wales – which represent all the local authority adoption services in the country – participated in the UK’s LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week this year.’

‘In every adoption case the needs of the child must be paramount. Poor engagement with LGBTQ+ people restricts the pool of potential adoptive parents, which isn’t in the best interests of vulnerable children. There’s clear evidence across Britain that it’s possible for a country to routinely see 1 in 6 adoptions be to same-sex couples, where there’s a strategic approach at a national level in efforts to broaden engagement and recruitment.’

LGBTQ+ adoption in Scotland

Source: National Records Scotland

Limitations of data: No country in the UK fully records LGBTQ+ adoption. The statistics reported by government focus on the composition of the adoptive family by gender - so whether the parents are two men, two women, one man and a woman, etc. rather than the sexual orientation or gender identity of the adopters. This means single LGBTQ+ people, bi people in a different gender relationship and trans people in a different gender relationship are invisible in the figures.

LGBTQ+ in the UK & considering adoption or fostering? Join New Family Social for free as a Bronze member. You can then access our online tools to find information sessions and details of local agencies keen to hear from you as a potential applicant.

Join as a Bronze member 

Congratulations to the five winners of our The Queer Parent competition. Each winner's now been contacted and a copy of the book is now 'en route' to you. 

Thanks to the 200 members who entered the competition and to the book's publishers for their generous prize. 

In May 2023 senior leaders from across the adoption sector in England took part in a course specifically designed to drive improvements in its work with LGBTQ+ applicants.

As LGBTQ+ people now represent the second largest group of people who adopt in the country New Family Social works with agencies to make this as smooth as possible – while also supporting and advocating for LGBTQ+ people on their adoption (and fostering) journeys.

Among the organisations that completed the two-part course for senior leaders were:

• Action for Children
• Adopt East RAA
• Adopt London East RAA
• Adopt London South RAA
• Adopt North East RAA
• Adopt South RAA
• Adopt Thames Valley RAA
• Adopters for Adoption
• Adoption Central England (ACE) RAA
• Adoption Connects RAA
• Adoption East Midlands RAA
• Adoption Focus
• Adoption Matters
• Adoption Now RAA
• Adoption West RAA
• Birmingham Children’s Trust (Now Adopt Birmingham RAA)
• Caritas Care
• Coram Ambitious for Adoption RAA
• Coram Baaf
• CVAA
• Diagrama
• IAC Centre
• National Adoption Leeds
• One Adoption North & Humber RAA
• One Adoption West Yorkshire RAA
• PACT Charity
• SSAFA
• Yorkshire Adoption Agency

The training – which was free to attend – was open and promoted to all regional adoption agencies and voluntary adoption agencies working in England.

If you’re considering which agency to go on your adoption journey with – and it doesn’t appear on the list above – you may want to ask it why.

Bronze members can also log in to the site to check out agencies across the UK that want to hear from LGBTQ+ people as potential applicants. 

Diagrama Foundation is asking people in Kent to consider choosing a career that makes a difference to children’s lives. With many children in care urgently requiring foster placement the charity will host a free fostering event at the Maidstone Community Support Centre on 22 June. At the event people looking for a rewarding career can find out more about foster care.

The charity is an agency member of New Family Social. This allows any LGBTQ+ people who foster with Diagrama to apply to access a Gold membership free of charge.

Kate Patel, Diagrama Foundation's Head of Adoption and Fostering, said: 'There's a pressing need for additional foster carers for the children in care in Kent. We'd love to meet with anyone who perhaps previously considered fostering but never pursued it, or is looking for a new and rewarding career where they'll make a difference.

'Those who foster with us can be assured that they are in very safe hands. Not only do we provide 24/7 support but we're thrilled that our recent Ofsted report rated our service as GOOD. It highlighted that ‘Children say that they feel safe and well cared for by their foster carers’. It also said that "Children and foster carers benefit from the expertise that the leadership and management team bring in the areas of child placement, social work with children and families, and safeguarding".'

The informal Diagrama drop-in fostering event will take place at Maidstone Community Support Centre on 22 June between 11am and 2pm. Those attending can meet and talk with members of the fostering team as well as carers employed by the charity.

Foster Carers need to be aged over 21 and must have a spare bedroom in their home. They can be retired, working full or part time, single or married and from any race or cultural background. No experience of having children is necessary as the charity provides full training.

Diagrama foster carers receive a minimum of £415 per week per child.

To find out more visit Diagrama's website or call 0800 802 1910

New Family Social’s summer camp will return to the West Midlands in August 2023. Gold members can log in now to find out more details – location, dates – and book on, as part of the first ticket release.

The camp is a unique opportunity for LGBTQ+ adoptive parents, foster carers, special guardians and the children they care for to holiday together. As well as a packed schedule of events for all children and young people it’s a rare chance for them to spend time with families that look like theirs.

Gold members can log in to find out more

LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week 2023 is underway and here's some curated highlights you can catch up with online:

The latest estimates in England show that 4 in 10 children with a sibling are separated from a sibling when placed in care. Led by New Family Social, LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week starts today (6 March). It asks potential applicants to think about the number of vulnerable children they could parent or care for.

The need for more LGBTQ+ applicants to explore adoption and fostering is as great as ever. In England in 2022 there were some 82,170 looked-after children. Despite strong numbers of LGBTQ+ people adopting, the number of looked-after children grew by two per cent from the previous year.

Previous analysis showed 47 per cent of same-gender couples waiting for an adoption match were more open to considering groups of brothers and sisters, compared to 36 per cent of different-gender couples.

Tor Docherty, New Family Social Chief Executive said: ‘We hope LGBTQ+ potential applicants will think about the number of children they could care for. Some children need to be cared for by themselves. Others will thrive if they can live with their siblings. In adoption and fostering the needs of the child and children must remain paramount – for some siblings this means staying together.’

The 2023 campaign is supported by some 120 adoption and fostering agencies across the UK. It’s the only campaign to solely focus on LGBTQ+ potential applicants. Among the agencies supporting it are all the adoption collaboratives in Wales, where LGBTQ+ applicants can access dedicated support no matter where in the country they are.

Running since 2012, the campaign’s seen the number of adoptions in England to same-gender couples grow from 1 in 31 to 1 in 6 in 2022. In Wales in 2022, 1 in 4 adoptions were to same-gender couples. In Northern Ireland it was 1 in 10. In Scotland in 2021, 1 in 11 adoptions were to same-gender couples. No government in the UK publishes data on the number of LGBTQ+ foster carers who care for looked-after children.

You can follow LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week online and through Twitter (@lgbtadoptfoster) and Facebook (@newfamilysocial).

‘1, 2, 3, or more?’ is the theme of LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week 2023, which returns from 6 March, 2023. With record numbers of looked-after children across the UK, there’s never been greater need for more LGBTQ+ people to consider adoption or fostering.

The 2023 campaign asks LGBTQ+ people to consider adopting or fostering single children or those in sibling groups. Research by the BBC in 2020 found that more than half of sibling groups in care are split up. In some cases this is because the children need separate care. In others, it’s because of a lack of foster carers or adoptive parents who can care for siblings.

The campaign will bring together the UK’s adoption and foster care agencies with LGBTQ+ potential applicants. Now in its eleventh year, the campaign remains the only one to focus on LGBTQ+ people. LGBTQ+ adoptive parents now represent the second largest group of all adopters inEngland. 1 in 6 adoptions in the country in 2022 were to same-sex couples. In Wales it was 1 in 4. In Northern Ireland, it was 1 in 10. In Scotland in 2021, 1 in 11 adoptions were to same-sex couples.

Agencies wishing to participate in the campaign can complete this online form to register their interest.

1 in 4 adoptions in Wales in 2022 were to same-sex couples, analysis of data published this week by Stats Wales shows. The analysis - by New Family Social, the UK's charity for LGBTQ+ adopters and foster carers - reveals that 22.8 per cent of adoptions in 2021-2022 were to same-sex couples.

This represents a shift in proportion from previous years. Wales now has the greatest proportion of same-sex couples adopters in the UK in a single year - in England more than 1 in 6 adoptions were to same-sex couples, in Scotland in 2021 it was 1 in 11. 

How the statistic is calculated:

As with all the data published by the UK governments it doesn't currently reflect the full engagement of LGBTQ+ people in adoption. The presentation of data excludes:

• Single LGBTQ+ adopters
• Bi people in different gender relationships
• Trans people in different gender relationships

LGBTQ+ people considering adopting in Wales can now benefit from a country-wide partnership between New Family Social and Wales' National Adoption Service. LGBTQ+ applicants to a Welsh local authority adoption service can apply to access New Family Social’s Gold memberships free of charge. It applies to all LGBTQ+ adopters who adopted or are supported through a Welsh local authority and to all future LGBTQ+ applicants taking this route. You can start the application process through this site.

If you hold a Bronze/Silver/Gold/Orange membership with New Family Social you can log in to view our statistics pages.