It is LGBT Adoption & Fostering Week across the UK this week, and Salford City Council are getting directly involved – taking part in an information event at the LGBT Foundation in Manchester.
Representatives from the council will be attending the New Family Social’s information event on Thursday 8th March between 6:30pm and 8:30pm.
The team will be there to talk about opportunities in Salford related to fostering and adoption.
Professionals and previous LGBT families who have already gone through the adoption and fostering processes will also be speaking at the event.
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Same-sex adoption & fostering in the UK
Fostering and adoption by LGBT couples is becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK – between 2016 and 2017, 1 in 10 adoptions were to same-sex couples.
There had been a desperate need for foster carers and adopters across the UK, including from within the LGBT community.
The country needs more than 9,000 foster carers this year alone, with over 70,000 children still in care.
In order to dispel the myths and rumours around LGBT fostering and adoption, New Family Social host the LGBT Adoption & Fostering Week.
Through a week of diverse events across the UK, they aim to assure potential foster carers that they can foster and provide them the support and guidance needed.
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New Family Social, the group organising the event, are a UK support network for LGBT adoptive and foster families.
They describe themselves as a “self-help membership organisation formed in 2007, out of a need for LGBT adopters and foster carers to support each other, and to give children the confidence of knowing other families like theirs.”
As part of a preview to the event, we spoke with James Lawrence from New Family Social to better understand the importance of events like these in helping encourage and support adoption and fostering within in the LGBT community.
How important is it to provide information events like these to LGBT families looking to adopt or foster?
“Research shows that LGBT people consistently say that they expect to be discriminated against by adoption and foster care agencies if they apply to them, so the campaign and events are key to uniting both potential parents and agencies. There are many adoption and foster care agencies across the UK that are now keen to talk to LGBT applicants and will support them on their journey.
“In all adoption and fostering cases the needs of the child are paramount. The better agencies are at encouraging more LGBT people to explore adoption and fostering, the wider the pool of potential parents. This can only be a good thing to help support children in care, as different children have different needs from their adoptive and foster families.”
Do you believe that there is enough support currently available to help LGBT families looking to adopt or foster across the UK?
“While support varies from agency to agency a key element for many LGBT people looking to adopt or foster is that the professionals supporting them on the process don’t make inaccurate assumptions about them and that the agency treats them in a way that’s fair and equal.
“For example, if you wouldn’t make it compulsory for a heterosexual couple to both take an HIV test, why would you do the same for a male same-sex couple? We always advise LGBT people considering adoption or fostering to meet with a number of agencies – that way they can make an informed decision about which meets their needs the most.”
How can we further help and support LGBT families looking to adopt or foster?
“If agencies use LGBT stories and case studies in their marketing and information sessions, alongside non-LGBT people that can be really powerful – and it shows that the agency expects to support a wide range of potential parents as a matter of course.
“Ultimately, any work that’s done to encourage more LGBT people to adopt or foster can be tailored to support other potential parents who may usually rule themselves out –so done effectively it can make a huge difference to the pool of prospective parents for vulnerable children in care.”
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