A COUPLE said they were 'pleased' to see LGBTQ+ adoption statistics rising in Cumbria.

New figures released by Cumbria Adoption revealed that one in four Cumbrian children placed for adoption in the last three years were adopted by LGBTQ+ families.

Some 93 children in Cumbria were matched with a new family between 2020 and 2023. Of these, 23 were placed with 18 LGBTQ+ families. This included five families where a child was adopted together with their brother or sister.

One of those families is 31-year-old Amy, and 33-year-old Kirsty, who adopted their son 'Archie' (not his real name) in May 2021 when he was 23 months old.

The couple, who both work in health and social care, say they are pleased to see the LGBTQ+ adoption statistics rising in Cumbria.

“We have come a long way to have equal rights and surely it's a good thing as more children who need families are going to their forever home," said Amy.

“We did have some initial concerns having experienced bullying ourselves, and we worried that our child would experience bullying because of having ‘two mums’, but our desire to give a child a home and a family outweighed those thoughts and we have had very good experience in nursery and school so far.”

They both said they recommend adoption for LGBTQ+ people and for everyone.

"It can be a very emotional process, but it’s 100 percent worth it," says Kirsty.

 "We don't feel any different as a family, so don't let that put you off applying. We felt just as valued as any other couple during the process.”

Zoe Chambers, Cumbria Adoption Recruitment and Assessment Team Manager, said: "The rising number of LGBTQ+ adopters coming forward and progressing to adopting Cumbrian children is a welcome indicator of society accepting and embracing diverse family structures. Our LGBTQ+ adopters are now a really important group for Cumbria Adoption, in terms of numbers and the qualities they bring.

“LGBTQ+ couples are usually coming to adoption as their first option for starting a family,  and our experience has been that they are often more likely to be open to adopting those children who have waited longer – brothers and sisters, children aged over 4, and children with additional needs."