Tag Archives: Adoptions

Increase in LGBT Adopters Seen Across the UK

In the UK, same-sex couples have had the right to adopt children since 2005. While it certainly took parliament long enough to make that legal, now approximately 7% of all adoptions that take place in the UK are done by same-sex families.

The figures may be a little higher for the leading national adoption support service, After Adoption, though, as a massive 13% of all of their adoptions between 2013-2014 were done by lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans* adopters.

The reason for that figure, After Adoption says, is because they’re keen to show that sexuality or gender identity don’t make a difference when it comes to who can provide a loving family for a child. The CEO of After Adoption, Lynn Charlton also adds that:

“At After Adoption, our priority as a Voluntary Adoption Agency is to create happy, lasting families. For this we need people to come forward to adopt who can provide loving, stable homes and who will commit to children for life. Sexuality isn’t a factor in that.

People who identify as LGBT play a key role in creating these families and this year 1 in 5 of our newly approved adopters identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender. But we know some people are still worried they’ll be told “no”, or that their sexuality will be a barrier to adoption.”

Meanwhile, After Adoption also recently used their position as a key sponsor and exhibitor of New Family Social’s LGBT Adoption & Fostering Week (which took place in Manchester on March 2nd) to talk about the general adoption process but also to dispel common misconceptions that people have about the LGBT community and their adoption of children.

According to official statistics, there are over 60,000 children in care in the UK and while there are no official numbers, there is certainly a great deal of same-sex couples or those who identify as LGBT who would like to adopt and start families of their own. The fact that After Adoption is helping with that is certainly a good thing and you can find out more at their website here.

Utah Lifts Stay on Adoptions by Same-Sex Couples

Despite same-sex marriage getting most of the headlines, there are a handful of other issues that affect the lives of LGBT families. Most notably, same-sex adoption, as the argument from those against it is no longer ‘gay people are wrong’ and is now ‘gay people shouldn’t have the right to raise families’.

And this is a common line from the anti-gay camp, with baseless claims about the lack of a father or mother figure being detrimental to children often being thrown around. While such ideas are clearly ludicrous, there’s also evidence to support the fact that children with lesbian parents have both a higher self-esteem and lower conduct problems.

Yet, despite there being some very good reasons to let adoptions by same-sex couples go ahead, plenty still do their bit to stop them. That’s what happened in Utah earlier this year but after a new ruling, same-sex parent adoptions in the state can now continue.

The original stay on adoptions by same-sex couples was issued by Republican state attorney general Sean Reyes back in May. Whilst there didn’t appear to be any good reasoning for it, the stay affected the lives of over 1,300 couples who legally married during a brief, 17-day period of marriage equality in the state and were now looking to start a family.

Under Utah law, there are no second-parent adoptions. This means that if one parent gave birth to the child (or was their biological parent), then because of that law the other parent would be unable to adopt the child and would therefore have no legal rights.

However, there was a surprising turnaround when Reyes recently changed his mind, asking for the stay that he initially put in place to be lifted. While the move can be categorised as ‘flip-flopping’ or just as a genuine change of heart, many are attributing the decision to the Supreme Court ruling on October 6th that legalised same-sex marriage in the state.

As a result, Utah is now one step closer to total equality which is good news that cannot be argued with.