Increasing number of LGBTQ+ households fostering in Wales

Increasing number of LGBTQ+ households fostering in Wales

Hannah and Betty

LGBTQ+ foster carers are making up a greater proportion of the total number of carers in Wales, according to new figures.

There are 56 LGBTQ+ households in Wales, an increase of 30% compared with 2024.

This LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week, starting March 2, Foster Wales Conwy is urging LGBTQ+ people to consider making enquiries to become foster carers and change lives in 2026.

In Conwy, there are currently around 240 children in foster care. Couples or single people can foster, and many LGBTQ+ people have unique personal life experience to bring to the care of children and young people.

Hannah and Betty have been fostering with their local authority in Conwy since 2024. When they met, fostering became a shared dream, and they began the process of becoming foster carers before Betty turned 21. From that moment, everything changed. What was meant to be short-term quickly became a new way of life, and now they can’t imagine life without fostering.

They said: “Fostering has been incredibly rewarding and truly life-changing for us. Seeing our foster child thrive and enjoy life has been amazing. We’ve learned to use our strengths - creativity, affection, and simply who we are—and our skills as a couple complement each other perfectly.

“Every family’s experience will be different, but fostering really does change the whole family dynamic. For anyone considering fostering, it’s important to remember that it’s not just your immediate household that grows—it’s your entire support network. For us, that’s been a beautiful, life-changing journey, and we’re so glad we took that first step. We love it.”

Suzanne Griffiths, Director of the National Adoption Service for Wales and Foster Wales, said: “Foster carers make an extraordinary difference to children and young people every day by offering stability, understanding and a safe place to thrive. They draw on their own life experiences, compassion and resilience to meet the individual needs of each child. For some children, foster carers can help them move on to adoption, which will provide the lifelong security they need when returning to their birth family is not possible.

“With so many children currently in need of loving homes, we would strongly encourage anyone considering fostering or adoption to come forward and start a conversation with their local team today.”

You can follow LGBTQ+ Adoption & Fostering Week online and through Twitter (@lgbtadoptfoster) and Facebook (@newfamilysocial).

For more information on fostering in Conwy visit: https://conwy.fosterwales.gov.wales  

About Foster Wales

Foster Wales is the national network of not-for-profit local authority fostering services in Wales. Its main aim is to provide children with the opportunity to stay local, thrive and improve their life chances through well supported foster carers.

About National Adoption Service for Wales

National Adoption Service for Wales(NAS)is the Wales-wide collaborative for the provision of adoption services. It has brought together local authority adoption services into a three-tier structure that includes partnerships at all levels with the Welsh voluntary adoption agencies, health and education services as well as others.

About New Family Social

New Family Social is the UK’s peer-support charity for LGBTQ+ adopters and foster carers.