1 in 7 adoptions in England in 2019 were to same-sex couples. Record numbers of LGBT+ people now foster and adopt - and all of them will need additional support at some time. Adoption & Support Week for LGBT+ families is a new campaign - backed by the State of the System survey - to support these families, whether they are new parents or have parented for many years. Throughout the week  - which starts 7 September - New Family Social will highlight support for LGBT+ adopters and foster carers, share stories from LGBT+ people already parenting or caring and make recommendations for those agencies that support them.

Read State of the System (2020):

The summary - available to read without a membership

The full report - exclusively for our Gold and Silver LGBT+ members and our Orange members, working for a member agency

You can also see a dedicated webinar on State of the System on our YouTube channel: 

Across the week:

7 September - polling of our LGBT+ adopter members shows that in the last year 4 in 10 of those in England has their post adoption interventions and support funded by the Adoption Support Fund.

8 September - 1 in 7 LGBT+ people currently in the adoption assessment process say their sexual orientation has been a barrier in their journey.

9 September - 1 in 13 LGBT+ people who apply to adopt or foster are single.

10 September - 1 in 4 LGBT+ adoptive parents asked their agency for support in the last three months.

11 September - 7 in 10 LGBT+ adopters and foster carers know how many adoptions in England were to same-sex couples in 2019.

Deciding to foster or adopt is a big decision no matter when you make it.

If you’re here, you’re considering if now’s the right time for you to foster or adopt.

Becoming a parent or carer to an adopted or fostered child is a fulfilling experience. Not only do you get to meet a wonderful new person, you get to help them grow and develop. You can teach them to bake, ride a bike and reach their full potential.

There’s been big changes over the years for prospective foster carers and adopters. The biggest recently is the coronavirus pandemic.

During the pandemic, The Guardian reported a shortfall of 25,000 foster carers in 2021. One fifth of foster carers exit the system every year, leaving agencies scrambling for replacements. Projected numbers say there’ll be a significant deficit of carers by 2026.

Lockdown also compromised child protection. Less interaction with different people lead to the breaking down of safeguarding. Children in the UK referred to fostering services increased by 37 per cent during that time. There’s a shortage of foster carers and increasingly difficult circumstances for looked-after children.

Agencies – across the UK – always seek families who want to start the approval process. The need for more adoption and fostering applicants usually outnumbers the number of people who apply and receive approval. This means there’s always children who need carers. Our member agencies want LGBT+ people to come forward. They recognise the resilience and strength that LGBT+ people bring to caring and parenting.

At New Family Social, we support a diverse range of people with all sorts of orientations and identities. We’re here to support you through the entirety of your adoption or fostering journey.

During the pandemic, most agencies held online-only training. At the time of writing, applicants experience a combination of face-to-face and virtual events, depending on the agency they select.

New Family Social offers face-to-face and virtual events across the UK. From chatty coffee mornings to informative intro webinars.

Contact us if you identify as LGBT+ and:

• You’re still deciding whether fostering or adoption is right for you
• You’ve questions about the assessment process
• You need any support if you’ve fostered or adopted children

Find out even more and gain exclusive access to articles and events by joining us.

Perhaps the hardest thing to do when considering building your family through adoption or fostering is making that first call.

How will I be spoken to, will the agency want me, will they consider me because my gender or orientation is "this"?

The fact is that all of our member agencies in NFS are actively looking for LGBT+ adopters and foster carers. There are children who need safe, loving and stable families waiting right now in the care system and you could be the adult that offers them a place in the world.

The process to becoming approved to foster or adopt in the UK is thorough to ensure the child's safety and because of this the UK has one of the most open and diverse adoption and fostering systems in the world.

The broad criteria to adopt/foster is as follows:

• Over 21
• Must have lived in the UK for at least a year before starting the application process
• Must be a UK resident or have indefinite leave to remain
• Your relationship status can be :
• • single
  • married
  • in a civil partnership
  • an unmarried couple

You can be cisgender, transgender, nonbinary, gender fluid, lesbian, gay, bisexual, asexual or a combination of same. You might prefer other terminology/identities and as long as you are open your agency should be able to accommodate you.  You will need to comfortable about how you identify, as the assessment will cover your ability to provide for a child and part of that means that you should "happy in your own skin", as one of our agencies nicely put it.

If you have recently (within the last year) been through a major event or change in your life (bereavement, relationship breakdown or relocation) then the agency will likely want you to have had a period of time to process and accommodate that change before starting or restarting the process.

What you don't need to be or have :

• you do not have to be a British citizen to adopt or foster a child
• there is no upper age limit but the agencies will be looking to ensure that you can look after the child until they are at least 18 years old
• you do not need to pay for adoptions or fostering 
• you do not need to have a garden but access to outside space (park / playground)

Pets

It is a myth that if you have a pet then you won't be allowed to adopt or foster.  What you will need to be able to do is to demonstrate that the pet is safe to be around, well looked-after and child-friendly.

We are trying to put your mind at rest that you will be welcomed at one of our member agencies. Some of our agencies won't have experienced every situation or orientation or gender-variance but should be willing to go through the journey with you.

If you have a question or want a chat, just give us a call and we will try our best to help.

IMPORTANT NFS FACT : We are a charity.  We get by on donations and member subscriptions. We are not financially rewarded or compensated by introducing an LGBT+ individual or couple to an agency, or when a member gets approved, or when a child or children are placed with a family. We do it to support our members in building their families and also the hope that more children find loving, happy homes to thrive in.

1 in 12 adoptions in Scotland in 2019 were to same-sex couples. Recently published data by National Records Scotland shows that 41 adoptions in the country took place to same-sex couples, out of 472 adoptions in total. The previous year there were 28 adoptions in Scotland to same-sex couples out of 471. This is both the highest number of adoptions to same-sex couples in Scotland on record and the best proportion of adoptions to LGBT+ people in Scotland on record.

James Lawrence, New Family Social's Head of Communications & Engagement, said: 'It's fantastic news that both more LGBT+ people are stepping forward and successfully adopting and that adoption agencies in Scotland are seeking out the widest possible pool of potential parents. In every adoption the needs of the child are paramount and there's a proven track record across Scotland, England and Wales of LGBT+ people parenting through adoption and fostering.'

New Family Social's members can log in to access more information and historical data. 

LGBT+ adopters and foster carers provide an invaluable resource, parenting some of our country’s most vulnerable children. A new campaign – Adoption & Fostering Support Week for LGBT+ families – aims to provide more and better peer and agency assistance to those adopters and foster carers playing these key roles.

The campaign will run from 14-18 September and is the first to specifically develop support for LGBT+ adopters and foster carers. It will exclusively target New Family Social’s LGBT+ adopter and foster carer members, with bespoke articles and information on the charity’s new website. It will be backed by a social media campaign and targeted advertising. The results of New Family Social’s LGBT+ members’ 2020 survey also form part of the campaign.

James Lawrence, Head of Communications & Engagement at New Family Social, said: ‘LGBT+ adopters and foster carers need and deserve practical and easily available resources to help them parent in a range of scenarios. Adoption & Fostering Support Week for LGBT+ families will do just that, in a secure and confidential space. As 1 in 7 adoptions in England in 2019 were to same-sex couples, the need for enhanced, tailored support for LGBT+ people parenting looked-after children continues to grow.’

The charity leading the campaign, New Family Social, is also responsible for the annual LGBT+ Adoption & Fostering Week that encourages more LGBT+ people to explore both parenting routes. Since that recruitment campaign’s inception the proportion of LGBT+ people adopting has consistently increased to its current record levels.

State of the system 2020 - New Family Social's research into the experiences of LGBT+ adopters and foster carers in the UK - is now open to members who have a Gold or Silver membership. 

James Lawrence, Head of Communications and Engagement at the charity said: 'LGBT+ people now form a key pool of adopters and foster carers to care for our country's most vulnerable children. How the adoption and fostering assessment and support processes treat these crucial parents helps determine how successful these placements are. Our understanding of the system will also help agencies to continue and increase their recruitment of applicants who identify as lesbian, gay, bi or trans.'

New Family Social's LGBT+ adopter and foster carer members  - who have a Gold or Silver membership - can take part in the survey by logging in to the site.

Welcoming the ruling against Cornerstone fostering agency, James Lawrence, New Family Social's Head of Communications and Engagement said: 'In every fostering case the needs of the child must be paramount.

'This ruling reinforces that and allows foster carers to be sourced from the widest possible pool of potential parents.'

Need the text? See below

2020's been a challenging year and we're barely half way through it. Here's some of our highlights:

Our members

We're the credible voice for LGBT+ adopters and foster carers across the UK. Some 4,800 LGBT+ adopters and foster carers now access our online services. We also support over 200 agencies to help them better work with LGBT+ potential parents.

Online support

Lockdown's a challenge. New Family Social stepped up to the plate. We moved meet-ups and information sessions online - and supported some 500 members through real-time sessions since April 2020. A highlight was delivering our first information session with signing for Deaf people.

Spilling the tea!

Adoption, Fostering & Tea - our podcast series sharing the experiences of real-life LGBT+ people adopting, fostering or going through the assessment process - has been 'enjoyed' by some 1,200 listeners. Biscuits were consumed in the recording of each installment.

New website

Our window to the world was given a good clean with the launch of a sparkling new website. It's been enjoyed by 4,000 unique visitors since May 2020 and led to surge in re-engagement from our long-standing members.

Getting on your socials

We Facebook, we Twitter, we hashtag. All with a soupcon of sass. To a combined audience of 12,800 people who are interested - whether professionally, personally or both - in LGBT+ people adopting or fostering.

Increasing awareness

1 in 7 adoptions in England in 2019 were to same-sex couples. It's no coincidence that the proportion of LGBT+ people successfully adopting has increased every year since the start of our annual awareness raising campaign - LGBT+ Adoption & Fostering Week. In 2020 the campaign reached 23 million people through social media alone.

Adoption, Fostering & Tea is New Family Social's podcast, covering all things in these parenting routes that our LGBT+ members go through.

The podcast is brought to you by New Family Social - the UK's peer support network for LGBT+ adopters and foster carers - with kind support from Little Radio. 

In this episode we talk about the decisions and thoughts behind adopting a sibling group.

Adoption, Fostering & Tea is New Family Social's podcast, covering all things in these parenting routes that our LGBT+ members go through.

The podcast is brought to you by New Family Social - the UK's peer support network for LGBT+ adopters and foster carers - with kind support from Little Radio. 

In this episode we chat with DJ about contact with birth siblings.