Industry News: Call for more LGBT people in the UK to foster or adopt on tenth anniversary of law change

More LGBT adopters and foster carers are needed across the UK, on the tenth anniversary of the law changing to protect same-sex couples from discrimination when adopting. Although adoptions by same-sex couples accounted for 1 in 12 of all adoptions in England in 2015, there’s an urgent need for 9,000 more fostering households across the UK this year. There’s also an ongoing shortage of adoptive parents, with twice as many children awaiting adoption in Scotland as there are approved adopters.

A series of events are planned across the UK from 7 March, as part of LGBT Adoption and Fostering Week. Organised by agencies that welcome lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans applicants, these events are for potential parents to find out more about what the processes involve. There are also two key seminars taking place in Manchester and central London, where LGBT people who do adopt and foster will speak and answer questions on their parenting journey.

Now in its fifth year, the week is organised by New Family Social, a charity that supports LGBT adopters and foster carers. Tor Docherty, New Family Social Chief Executive, said: ‘LGBT people can and do successfully adopt and foster. If you’re LGBT and keen to parent then there are agencies keen to support you. You may already have just the skills needed to parent a particular child or sibling group and these information events are a fantastic way to explore the options you have.’

Source:
www.newfamilysocial.org.uk

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