1,2,3, or more? LGBTQ+ people in the UK asked to consider the number of vulnerable children they could adopt or foster in campaign running from 6th to 12th March.

ARC Adoption North East is proud to support this year’s LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week, organised by charity, New Family Social.

With latest estimates* showing that 4 in 10 children with brothers or sisters are separated from a sibling when placed in care – the campaign is asking potential adoption applicants to consider the number of vulnerable children they could care for.

The need for more LGBTQ+ applicants to explore adoption and fostering is as great as ever. In England in 2022 there were 82,170 looked-after children, and despite strong numbers of LGBTQ+ people adopting, the number of looked-after children grew by two per cent from the previous year. Previous analysis showed 47 per cent of same-gender couples waiting for an adoption match were more open to considering groups of brothers and sisters, compared to 36 per cent of different-gender couples.

Tor Docherty, New Family Social Chief Executive said:

"We hope LGBTQ+ potential applicants will think about the number of children they could care for. Some children need to be cared for by themselves. Others will thrive if they can live with their siblings. In adoption and fostering the needs of the child and children must remain paramount – for some siblings this means staying together."

Running since 2012, the campaign’s seen the number of adoptions in England to same-gender couples grow from 1 in 31 to 1 in 6 in 2022.

At ARC Adoption North East, in both 2021 and 2022, approximately 1 in 3 of the families approved to adopt identified as LGBTQ+.

ARC Adoption’s Director, Terry Fitzpatrick OBE added:

“We are always looking for families who can provide a home for brothers and sisters, but we appreciate that it can be daunting for prospective adopters to consider adopting more than one child at the same time. At ARC we’d encourage anyone from the LGBTQ+ community who are considering adoption to get in touch with us to find out more about the children in need of adoption, as well to hear about the extensive support that our agency can provide.”

Join us at an information event and hear from LGBTQ+ adoptive parents

ARC Adoption is hosting two information events at the beginning of April. At our face-to-face event which is taking place on Saturday 1^st April in Sunderland, we are lucky to have a same sex couple who adopted with the support of ARC, join us to help share their experience and answer questions. We are also hosting a virtual event on Thursday 6^th April. More information on both events as well as the links to register for them can be found on our events page here.

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All enquirers will receive a warm welcome from the ARC Adoption team. As well as being able to register for the events mentioned above, you are also welcome to complete our enquiry form to request a private chat with us at a convenient time for you to find out more, discuss your own circumstances and get your questions answered.

* In the 2023 Siblings in Care report, it highlighted that 4 in 10 (37 per cent) children with a sibling are separated from a sibling when placed in care. This follows BBC research in 2020 which estimated that more than half were separated in care.