News / LGBT Bristol
Celebrating Bristol’s LGBTQ+ adopters
An adoption agency that has been operating since 1904 is working to shine a light on LGBTQ+ adopters and raise awareness among others who may want to become parents.
CCS Adoption bosses say LGBTQ+ families are hugely important to adoption and fostering – and there is plenty in Bristol to support those who are considering this path.
The enactment of the Adoption and Children Act in 2005 meant LGBTQ+ couples were able to adopt together and, since this amendment, the number of queer family adopters has continued to rise.
is needed now More than ever
Now, one in five adopters in the UK are LGBTQ+. For CCS, last year this number was closer to half, around 43 per cent. Meaning Bristol and the surrounding area lean higher than the national average on LGBTQ+ adoption.
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Emma Simpson, CEO of CCS, said: “LGBT+ adopters are hugely important to adoption and fostering. They are more likely to adopt higher priority children – those aged four and over, and those with additional care needs.”
There were initial concerns by some people surrounding LGBTQ+ adoption when the law first changed. From 2005, Emma said there were concerns about how children would feel having LGBTQ+ adoptive parents. Worries surrounded how the extra layer of difference could be negative for the adopted children.
This was, however, not the case. “The research suggests that children with LGBTQ+ adoptive parents do no worse, and can actually do better, than those raised by heterosexual parents,” said Emma.
“There are differences and diversities within LGBTQ+ adopters which are hugely beneficial for those children. Added layers of identity surrounding their adoption have proven to be advantageous.”
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Nowadays, there are also more progressive and diverse resources available for children from single-sex parent families. Emma commented that these can feed diversity and positivity to children in a digestible way. This can help these children celebrate the differences of their family dynamic.
There are also benefits of the LGBTQ+ community being tight-knit and supportive to one another.
Emma said that within the Bristol area, there are some schools with high numbers of LGBT+ adoptive parents.
“At a particular school there’s so many LGBTQ+ adopters that they’ve got their own support group. To have that within a small primary school feels really positive,” said Emma.
CCS runs regular peer-to-peer support spaces for LGBTQ+ families and their children. These consist of coffee mornings that have recently been sponsored by Bristol Pride.
The presence of CCS at Pride has helped to find further prospective LGBTQ+ adoptive parents
The monthly support group is for parents at stage two of their application (prospective adopters complete stage one (two months) and then stage two (four months) to complete their adoption assessment) or those parents already placed with children. At these meetings, parents are able to reconnect with friends they made during the training courses.
Emma said these meetings are also important for the children. Through attending these meetings they are able to see the huge amount of diversity present in LGBTQ+ adoption. They are able to see the normality of their own family dynamic.
The CCS LGBTQ+ Coffee Morning for LGBTQ+ adopters and prospective adopters runs once a month, with details available via: www.ccsadoption.org/the-centre/events/events-calendar/. The meeting takes place in the Youth Moves building at the Park Centre, Knowle.
CCS are running an Online Adoption Information Evening on March 26, more information can be found via: www.ccsadoption.org/blog/lgbtq-online-adoption-information-evening-26-03-24/.
All images: CCS Adoption
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