LGBTQ+ people are being encouraged to foster in West Midlands: ‘It’s about being compassionate’

LGBTQ+ people are being encouraged to foster in the West Midlands, with a foster care agency telling prospective families that “it’s about being compassionate”.

Approximately 30,000 children enter care every year in the UK, according to fostering charity The Fostering Network. The organisation told the BBC in a recent interview that there’s a crucial need for 630 more carers in the West Midlands, in particular. 

Members of the LGBTQ+ community are now being actively encouraged to apply to be foster carers. 

Fostering agency Family Care Group told the outlet that its main priority is to urge members of the LGBTQ+ community to consider becoming foster carers. “It’s about being compassionate and having a welcoming home to offer,” practice manager Sonia Sandhu told the publication.

Despite many prospective foster families from the LGBTQ+ community worrying that their application won’t be successful due to their sexuality, the registered manager for the group, Hannah Makin, said, “This could not be further from the truth”. 

In a press release, Makin continued: “We are really keen to reassure people from this background that they can be fantastic foster carers providing exactly the support, love and security that a child needs. 

“We would strongly encourage any LGBTQ+ adults or couples to think seriously about fostering. It can make a huge difference to a child’s life and be incredibly rewarding for you.”

Shropshire-based couple Kimberly and Lucy Chapman told the outlet that they have been fostering together for seven years, and were initially worried about judgment over their sexuality. However, they said the fostering community have been welcoming and accepting towards them. 

The pair mainly look after long-term foster children, and currently care for four foster children, all under five years old, including a newborn baby. 

“There are lots of highs and lots of lows, but we really love fostering,” Kimberly said. “I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

The pair even believe that someone’s LGBTQ+ background can be an advantage in fostering. “The majority of people coming out will have experienced rejection from their family, even homelessness, and I think a lot of children in foster care have experienced exactly the same thing,” Lucy said.

Single foster carer John Cargill echoed this sentiment, adding: “Gender doesn’t matter, sexuality doesn’t matter, your background, your class, your education doesn’t matter. Kids just want to be understood and looked after.”

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