The latest figures on adoptions in England and Scotland show a stark divide between male and female couples. An analysis by New Family Social this week shows that in England in 2025 there were more than twice as many adoptions to male couples (420) as female couples (200).

In Scotland in 2024 there were 40 adoptions to male couples, compared to 29 the previous year. Female couples accounted for eight adoptions in 2024, down from 15 in 2023. While the overall number of adoptions to same-gender couples remained relatively static year on year, this was due to increases in the number of male couples adopting.

The analysis looked at figures published by the Department of Education in November and the latest data from the National Records of Scotland. It found that in England adoptions by female couples fell from 220 in 2024 to 200 in 2025. In Scotland the number in 2024 fell to 8, from 15 in 2023.

Tor Docherty, Chief Executive of New Family Social said: ‘The gulf between the number of male couples and female couples adopting should give pause for thought. There’s always been an accepted difference, but the numbers of lesbian and bi women successfully adopting are now worryingly low.

‘Adoption stakeholders should look closely at their recruitment campaigns, marketing collateral and materials to check they speak to all parts of the LGBTQ+ community. At a time when there’s concern that not enough people are considering adoption, it’s complacent to assume that lesbian and bi women will do so just because they have done for years. This complacency could ultimately deny vulnerable children the widest possible pool of potential adopters.’

The data:

Country	England	England		Scotland	Scotland
Reporting period	2025	2024		2024	2023
Total number of adoptions	3040	3020		369	369
Total number of male/male couples adopting	410	380		40	29
Total female/female couples adopting	200	220		8	15
Total number of adoptions to same-gender couples	610	600		48	44
Same-gender adoptions as percentage of total	20.1	19.9		13	11.9
Same-gender adoptions as proportion of total	1 in 5	1 in 5		1 in 8	1 in 8

Adapted from the Department of Education’s Children looked after in England including adoptions and the Vital Events Reference Tables 2024, National Records of Scotland.

Notes

• Data published by the Department for Education covers 01/04/2024-31/03/25. Data published by National Records of Scotland covers 01/01/2024-31/12/24.
  
  
• All data published by UK countries undercounts LGBTQ+ people’s engagement with adoption. This data focuses on the composition of the adoptive family by binary gender, e.g. adoptions by one man & one woman, two men, two women, one man, one woman. As a result, New Family Social’s analysis cannot include LGBTQ+ single adopters or any bi people in a different gender relationship. Similarly, trans adopters in a different gender relationship are absent from the analysis.
  
  
• Wales is the only UK country to publish data on adoptions by non-binary people.