Wed 9 Mar 2022 – 2 min read
Written by Heather Liveston – Principle Social Worker & LGBT+ person
I remember the first LGBT + Adoption and Fostering Week after I started working with Adopters for Adoption. As a same-sex parent myself, I was proud of joining an agency who were welcoming of LGBT + adopters. Three years later, I find myself reflecting on the progress we have made. We have, of course, continued to assess and approve prospective adopters from the LGBT + community but we have also taken steps to improve our understanding and knowledge regarding sexuality, sexual orientation and gender.
We (staff and panel members) have had training from New Family Social, an organisation supporting LGBT + adopters and foster parents (a good excuse to wear my rainbow socks!). We also enjoy attending the weekly Q & A sessions they offer to adoption and fostering agencies.
We recognise that the choices we offered people with respect to gender identity were limited so, again with advice from New Family Social, we extended the options available. We are more aware than we were regarding the use of pronouns. We are working hard to make sure that we get it right and recognise the unique identity of all our enquirers.
As well as providing a positive experience for our LGBT + adopters, we seek to equip all of our adopters with the confidence to support their adopted children if they identify as LGBT +. Our new course “Identity”, will equip adopters with an understanding of the issues that LGBT + children and young people may face, and how they can access information and support if needed.
LGBT+ adoption and fostering week is a campaign organised by New Family Social – a charity that supports LGBT+ families with adoption and fostering – to encourage more LGBT+ people to consider adoption and fostering. To find out more visit www.newfamilysocial.org.uk. As a member agency of New Family Social, all of our LGBT+ adopters get free access to their gold membership.
If you’d like to find out more about adopting with us, please get in touch here.