On the 31st March 2018 there were 75,420 looked after children in England which demonstrates an increase of 4% since March 2017. There is a clear need for more foster carers to support children and young people entering the care system with unique and diverse needs and good foster carers come from all sections of our community.
If you are from the LGBTQ+ community, you may be wondering if fostering is something you can do. Well, the answer to this question is most definitely YES YOU CAN!
People who are LGBTQ+ have been very successfully fostering and adopting children for many years. Research has consistently shown that the children fostered and adopted by same sex couples are just as likely to thrive as those adopted and fostered by heterosexual couples, and reinforces that new families cope just as well as traditional families with the big challenges that come with taking on children who have had a poor start in life.
Rolfe Pearce and his partner Alan Wood, who have won an award for their services to fostering, have shared candidly their experiences of fostering over a 10 year period. They provide useful insight to their experiences as a same sex couple who have very successfully fostered three young people in long term placements. Rolfe states “Our advice for LGBT couples is simple, YES YOU CAN, no ifs or buts just YES YOU CAN! If you care, a child will know that, if you can be fair, a child will respond to that, if you have room in your heart and your home, it can be the most rewarding thing you will ever do……and the most challenging too’.
To read more about Rolfe and Alan’s story follow the link to the Fosterline website here >