Building a Family Through Barnardo's Fostering

Jonathan and Adam are a same-sex couple from South Wales who pursued fostering as a route to starting a family of their own.

Jonathan said: “Adam and I always knew we wanted a family together. We initially looked into adoption, but we felt a stronger pull towards fostering as we could help more than one child this way. Adam has foster parents in his family and, having spent lots of time with them and the children they looked after, we knew that we could really make an impact by taking this path whilst also gaining the life we wanted together.

“We knew that Barnardo’s Cymru was an organisation which particularly welcomed diverse foster parents from a range of different backgrounds, so we decided to start our journey with them. Five years later, we are so glad that we did - Barnardo’s Cymru has been so supportive and inclusive, and so have the other foster parents that we’ve met along the way.”

The number of LGBTQ+ couples adopting is increasing year on year. In 2022, twice as many adoptions were same-sex couples compared to the year before, showing a huge rise in interest, but when it comes to fostering, there are many children still waiting for loving and supportive foster homes.

Adam said: “We knew that fostering wasn’t going to be an easy ride, but the struggles have made building our family so much sweeter. For us, the joys are in the simplest things and we feel pride in seeing the children flourish and succeed in the things that most of us take for granted.

“Through all of it, Barnardo’s has been there supporting us through each step and offering comfort and guidance through any difficult times. We always feel as though our little family is part of a much bigger family, which is Barnardo’s and the wider community of foster parents we are part of.”

Same-sex couples like Jonathan and Adam have made an immeasurable difference in the lives of children and young people in Wales, and it’s very special to see how fostering has allowed them to create the family unit they longed for.

*Foster parents' names have been changed