LGBTQ+ adoptive parents to more than one child experience greater levels of physical violence, violence against their home & property and verbal abuse from their children, than LGBTQ+ people who adopt one child. Suffering in silence? LGBTQ+ adoptive parents' experience of & response to violence from their children published today (7 October), reveals a disparity between the real-life experience of child to parent violence for LGBTQ+ adoptive parents to one child compared to those who adopt more than one. LGBTQ+ adoptive parents to more than one child are significantly less likely to seek support from their social worker or post adoption support services, than those parenting one adopted child.

Among the results in Suffering in silence? LGBTQ+ adoptive parents' experience of & response to violence from their children:

4 in 10 LGBTQ+ adoptive parents of one adopted child say that child directed physical violence towards them or their partner in the previous 12 months. 5 in 10 LGBTQ+ adoptive parents of more than one adopted child said the same.

Of those LGBTQ+ parents who’d adopted one child and experienced violence directed towards them/their partner, 66 per cent sought help from post-adoption support or their social worker. When asked the same question, 48 per cent of LGBTQ+ adoptive parents of more than one child, who’d experienced violence directed towards them/their partner, said they sought support.

The disparity is also visible on the experience of violence directed against the home or property and seeking support for it; 73 per cent of LGBTQ+ adoptive parents who’d adopted one child and experienced this behaviour said they contacted their social worker or post-adoption support for help. Of those LGBTQ+ adoptive parents who’d adopted more than one child and then experienced violence against their home or property, 32 per cent reported contacting their social worker or post-adoption support for help.

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If you’ve experienced child to parent violence and need support, please contact your social worker or post-adoption support service. You may also find the following organisations helpful:

National Domestic Abuse Helpline / 0808 2000 247 

Family Lives / 0808 800 2222 

Children 1st Parentline [for families in Scotland] / 08000 28 22 33 

Parenting NI [for parents in Northern Ireland] / 0808 8010 722