Listen to adoptive father of one, Will, talk about his experiences of adoption for LGBT Adopt & Foster week 2015 on our YouTube channel.
Coram, which is one of the UK’s most successful voluntary adopting agencies, is supporting the call for more lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to come forward to consider adopting.
Jeanne Kaniuk Head of Adoption and Permanent Families’ Service said, “What matters to us is that prospective adopters are ready to make a loving commitment to a child throughout their childhood and beyond.
“We take a child-centered approach,which means that we’re looking for parents who have the kinds of qualities that can make a lasting difference to vulnerable children, regardless of their sexuality. Rather than having a blueprint for the kind of family that might be suitable to adopt, we start from the premise that we need committed parents who can understand the emotional baggage that the children are likely to bring with them.
“Adoption creates a sense of belonging and security for a child that envelopes them. As one of the UK’s largest and best-established voluntary adoption agencies, we offer a service that families can trust.”
It’s normal. Our son is our priority
Will and his partner adopted a son two years ago, when he was five. Will says:
“We have been able to support our son and give him all those experiences he has never had, trying to give him a good foundation for the rest of his life.
“For our situation and our family, we haven’t looked back since adopting. I just couldn’t imagine my life without my son now.
“A lot of people when they adopt think about having a baby, and we adopted an older child. But we have experienced so many firsts with him that not being there for those first few years of his life hasn’t taken away from our experience as a family.
“It’s normal. That’s how it is. We happen to be two men with a son and we’re not looked upon differently for doing that, and our son is the priority and that’s what I’d like to see happening for other children across the country.
“We have been able to support our son and give him all those experiences he has never had, trying to give him a good foundation for the rest of his life.“
Maire and Winnie’s story
Maire and Winnie adopted brothers aged five and six through Coram. Maire says:
“There’s not been one single comment about us being a female couple. Once one of Tom’s friends was talking about his daddy, and Tom just told him how strong his mums were and that we did a big cycle ride from ‘here to here’.
“To be a good adopter you need to be the sort of people who can focus on the needs of the child first. The two of us have such good families and strong family units so we felt wanted to replicate that for a child. It was so exciting that Coram thought we could do this; it was a lovely feeling.”
Useful links
Watch our video about a same-sex couple adopting
Listen to our adoptive dad Will talk about his experiences
Thinking about adopting? Find an information session near you