The LGBTQ+ briefing for adoption and fostering professionals in the UK will return on 29 November. Booking for the free online event - run by New Family Social - is open now.

The briefing shares the latest statistics, good practice and relevant news for those working in the sector who support LGBTQ+ applicants, adoptive parents, foster carers or special guardians. 

Orange members can log in now to register. Professional who aren't members can apply to attend by completing an online form.

Orange members' registration

Non-members'  application to attend - Online registration is now closed. Please call 0203 880 2683 for event availability. [29/11/2023]

Newly published data from the Department of Health in Northern Ireland shows that 1 in 8 adoptions in the country during 2022-2023 were to same-sex couples. This was an increase from 2021-2022 where the proportion was 1 in 10.

Exact figures for the country are unavailable beyond the total number of adoptions - 108 in the reporting period - but the accompanying narrative from the Department of Health says that:

'Some 75% the adopters were different sex couples who were married or in a civil partnership and 5% were different sex unmarried couples. Some 7% were same sex couples who were married or in a civil partnership and 6% were same sex unmarried couples. A further 6% were single adopters'

Northern Ireland is the first of the UK countries to publish statistics covering 2023. By contrast the remaining UK countries most recent figures showed that:

• 1 in 4 adoptions in Wales in 2022 were to same-sex couples. [Reporting period 2021-2022 / 65 out of 285 adoptions]
• 1 in 6 adoptions in England in 2022 were to same-sex couples [Reporting period 2021-2022 / 540 out of 2950 adoptions]
• 1 in 12 adoptions in Scotland in 2022 were to same-sex couples [Reporting period calendar year 2022 / 32 out of 370 adoptions]

All data published in UK countries undercounts LGBTQ+ people's involvement with adoption. This is because it focuses on the adoptive family's composition - showing whether the adoptive parent is one man/one woman/two women/two men, etc. - rather than the sexual orientation and gender identity of adopters. As a result single LGBTQ+ adopters can't be counted. Similarly invisible in statistics are bi adopters in an opposite gender relationship or trans adopters in an opposite gender relationship.

Download our summary [log-in required]  

Latest Northern Ireland statistics

Arjay & Tom share their story of adopting twins - 12 weeks ago - in the latest instalment of Adoption, Fostering & Tea. The couple talk about their adoption journey, the matching process and the joy of their new family.

Check out the episode on Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts from. ️‍ https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/adoption-fostering-tea-the-new-family-social-podcast/id1511504425?i=1000632538752

After a two year assessment journey Neil and Stuart were matched - and now live - with their son. However, his birth parents want to contest the adoption. Check out their story in the latest instalment of 'Adoption, Fostering & Tea'. 

Listen on Apple podcasts

How do you know when it's the right time to adopt? Cameron shares his story in the latest instalment of Adoption, Fostering & Tea.

He and his husband are researching adoption and wondering whether they know enough. Should they move house first?  When is the right time to start the process?

You can check out his questions and solutions on Apple podcasts now, or wherever you get your podcasts from.

Stuart and Simon return to update us on their story in the latest instalment of 'Adoption, Fostering & Tea'. The couple adopted siblings in 2020 and share the joy and challenges they've gone through since their first appearance on the podcast. ️‍

Listen on Spotify

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Voluntary adoption agencies across the UK have come together with a joint mission to stop brothers and sisters who are waiting in care from being separated when adopted.

Almost half of children currently waiting in care* are part of a family group and voluntary adoption agencies (VAAs) are looking for people who can offer them a permanent and loving home.

Diagrama Adoption and Fostering is among 23 VAAs from across the UK that have together created a guide for people considering adoption containing helpful information and advice from parents who have already adopted sibling groups.

Kate Patel, Head of Adoption and Fostering, Diagrama Foundation said, 'The impact on children in care who are separated from their brothers and sisters can be huge. It is vitally important that a permanent family is secured for them, however if this means they are separated from their siblings when they have already experienced a difficult start in life, then this can be really challenging.

'Yet so few people feel equipped or able to consider adopting a sibling group of two, three, or even four children.

'We are excited to be part of this project sharing first hand, heartfelt experience and advice from families who have already done this incredible thing of adopting a sibling pair or group.'

VAAs are specialists in finding families for children who wait the longest in care. They work in partnership with local authorities to find families for children waiting for a permanent home.

As independent, not-for-profit organisations VAAs offer intensive services to provide families with support - both when the children are placed and into the future.

Maggie Jones, Chief Executive, Consortium of Voluntary Adoption Agencies (CVAA) which represents VAAs across the country said, 'Brother and sisters who are adopted together are often the only constant thing in each other’s lives in times of huge upheaval, loss and trauma.

'The voluntary adoption sector are specialists in finding families for sibling groups and being there for them with bespoke packages of support for as long as it’s needed.'

Find out more about Diagrama Adoption

Find your nearest Voluntary Adoption Agency 

*There are currently 2,030 children waiting to be adopted in England. 890 of those are in a family group. 520 children who are part of a sibling group have been waiting for 18 months or more to find a home.

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.

Spotify

Apple Podcasts

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.