12% of Adopted Children in England Are Taken in By Same-Sex Couples
12 percent of adoptions in England are now being undertaken by same-sex couples, according to a new report from the Department for Education.
This new statistic equates to roughly one in eight adoptions, or 450 children. It is the highest number of same-sex adoptions since records began.
“LGBT+ people can bring fantastic parenting skills to their adopted children,” said Tor Docherty of New Family Social. “We’re thrilled to see agencies consistently recognising that LGBT+ people pay a key role in helping transform the lives of our most vulnerable children.
“We know from snapshot research that LGBT+ people are more likely to consider adopting children that can be seen as ‘harder to place’ – because of factors such as their age or if they have special needs – which can make it easier for social services to match vulnerable children with potential parents.
“A decade ago, just 80 adoptions in England were to same-sex couples. Now, we’re seeing over 400 adoptions a year for consecutive years, which is a mark of how far we’ve come.”
While the total number of adoptions in England has fallen 30 percent since 2015, the number of same-sex couples choosing to adopt has only risen.
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