ISSUES
: Sexuality and Gender
Chapter 3: LGBTQ+ issues
31
How many LGBT people are parents?
The official government estimate is that in the UK in 2013 there were around 20,000
dependent children living in same-sex couple families (“
Common Law Marriage” and
Cohabitation
report, p.5).
Current statistics
How many children have
been adopted by LGBT
people in Britain?
As of 11 December 2015, there
had been 1,825 adoptions by
LGBT people in Great Britain since
reporting began. However, these
official statistics exclude:
Ö
Ö
the sexual orientation or gender
identity of single adopters
Ö
Ö
bisexual people not in a same-
sex relationship
Ö
Ö
trans people – unless they are
part of a same-sex couple.
Opposite is a summary of the total
number of adoptions by country
to adopters either in same-sex
relationships, a civil partnership or
a same-sex marriage.
Total number:
1,825
Sources: English data is from
gov.uk, Scottish data is from the
National Records of Scotland
website and Welsh data is from the
Stats Wales website.
Fostering in Britain
9,070 fostering families are needed
across the UK in 2016. The need is
for 7,600 foster families in England,
800 in Scotland, 500 in Wales and
170 in Northern Ireland.
Source: The Fostering Network.
There is no monitoring of the number
of LGBT foster carers in England,
Scotland or Wales.
Adoptions by same-sex
couples in England, Scotland,
Wales – 2014/15
Between 1 April 2014 and 31 March
2015:
Ö
Ö
InEngland therewere 450 children
adopted by same-sex couples.
There were 160 adoptions by
same-sex couples, not in a civil
partnership or marriage.
260 adoptions were to
same-sex couples in a civil
partnership. There were
ten adoptions to female
same-sex married couples
and 20 to male same-
sex married couples.
Adoptions by same-sex
couples accounted for 8.4
per cent of all adoptions in
2014/15, an increase from
6.7 per cent of all adoptions
in 2013/14.
Ö
Ö
In Wales there were 30
adoptions by same-sex
couples. 15 of these were
by male same-sex couples in
a civil partnership or marriage.
Five were by male same-sex
couples not in a civil partnership
or marriage. There were ten
adoptions by female same-sex
couples in this period. The 30
adoptions account for 7.8 per
cent of all adoptions in this period
in Wales. In the 2013/14 period,
adoptions by same-sex couples
accounted for 7.2 per cent of all
adoptions in Wales. For more
information visit the Stats Wales
website.
Ö
Ö
In Scotland there were 17
adoptions by same-sex couples.
Ten of these were to female
same-sex couples. Seven were
to male same-sex couples. The
17 adoptions account for 3.74 per
cent of all adoptions in Scotland in
this period. In the 2013/14 period,
adoptions by same-sex couples
accounted for 2.9 per cent of all
adoptions in Scotland. For more
information visit the National
Records of Scotland website.
How many LGBT people have
been approved to adopt?
In England between 1 April 2013
and 31 March 2014, 935 people who
identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual
were approved to adopt. Of these:
Ö
Ö
365 identify as lesbian
Year
England Scotland Wales
2014/2015
450
17 30
2013/2014
340
14 25
2012/2013
230
8 20
2011/2012
160
1
5
2010/2011
100
5
5
2009/2010
120
0
5
2008/2009
120
0
0
2007/2008
80
0
0
2006/2007
90
0
0
Country
totals:
1,690
45 90
Ö
Ö
560 identify as gay
Ö
Ö
Ten identify as bisexual.
Gender identity isn’t covered
in these statistics. For a more
detailed breakdown visit the gov.
uk website.
How many LGBT people in
my area were approved to
adopt last year? How many
have started placements
with a child/children?
NB: For data protection and
disclosure purposes, Ofsted round
figures up to the nearest five (one
to four have all been rounded up
to five). Totals have been rounded
up to five to allow maximum use of
agency level data with the minimum
risk of disclosure. This means that
some totals do not match exactly
with
secondary
breakdowns;
however, the impact on percentages
has been minimal. The purpose
of the rounding is to ensure non-
disclosure of sensitive data whilst
maintaining its usefulness.
Need figures for your local town?
Visit the gov.uk website and
download the Adoption annual
dataset 2013-14: local authority
adoption agencies and read tab C3.
Detailed breakdown:
Percentage of orders made for
placement with same-sex couple
