Change a child’s life – adopt through Surrey County Council

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Surrey County Council urges adopters from the LGBT community to come forward to change a child’s life.

Welcome to Surrey
People from the LGBT community who are keen to start a family through adoption are welcomed by us here in Surrey.

Pre-2006, gay and lesbian residents could only adopt as a single person and even then, being open about their sexuality in adoption assessments sometimes meant facing a high level of scrutiny. But since legislation passed allowing unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt jointly in England and Wales, more and more couples are coming forward.

Many same-sex couples are choosing to extend their family through adoption and in Surrey we’ve seen a steady growth of applications from gay and lesbian couples over the last few years. In 2013, for example, three same-sex couples adopted in Surrey and so far in 2014, four couples have been approved by us and are waiting to be matched to a child or children.

Strength and quality
As we’ve got to know more about our LGBT adopters, there’s a real appreciation of how they view adoption; as a positive option and not a last resort. They’re able to offer our children unique strengths and qualities providing them with security, love and acceptance. This is backed up by research carried out by Cambridge University; that children adopted by same-sex couples thrive.

Support for you
Here in Surrey we have a growing LGBT support group for adopters and foster-carers and they meet on a regular basis. But we’re always on the lookout for any ideas on how we can continue to ensure people from the LGBT community feel supported. Ultimately we want people who can provide a loving home to children who have experienced levels of disadvantage, neglect and trauma.

Children who are waiting
We’ve been really successful in recruiting adopters for many of the children who need a family, but we still need to find more families for our priority children. Children are referred to as priority for a number of reasons, such as; they may be aged five and over, be part of an older sibling group, be from an ethnic background, or because they have health and developmental issues.

We need you!
We want enquiries from anyone in the LGBT community who can offer these children a loving and supportive adoptive home.

If you think you have what it takes to change a Surrey child’s life, call our adoption team on 08000 96 96 26 or visit www.surreycc.gov.uk/adoption

Surrey County Council is a PinkNews advertiser.

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