Increasing number of LGBTQ+ households fostering in Wales

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

There are currently 56 LGBTQ+ households fostering in Wales, an increase of 30% compared with 2024. Of those households, 12.5% foster with Foster Wales Carmarthenshire. In Carmarthenshire alone, LGBTQ+ foster carers supported 17 children in 2025, reflecting the vital role they play.

This LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week (2-9 March), Foster Wales Carmarthenshire is urging LGBTQ+ people to consider making an enquiry to become foster carers.

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.

Dee and Kaz Hamilton are newly approved foster carers in Carmarthenshire. They said:

We had no idea that we needed fostering in our lives.
It started with friends asking us to be their foster support. At that point, we had no intention of being more than a spare pair of hands. Then we started spending more time with children and young people, hearing their stories, and found ourselves being encouraged to consider fostering too.
We don’t wear rose-coloured glasses. We know it’s not always easy, even so, having additional children and young people in our lives has been very rewarding.
As two older ladies, we feel respite care is the right fit for us right now, and who knows where that might lead. For now, we look forward to welcoming young friends into our world, whether they’re already part of our lives or just beginning to be.”

Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services, Children and Families, Cllr. Jane Tremlett, said:

There’s a pressing need for more people to become foster carers and insufficient adoption applications. We want to encourage people to consider adoption or fostering as routes to building their family. LGBTQ+ people bring unique qualities which can be incredibly powerful in supporting children and young people to feel seen.”

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.”

To find out more about becoming a foster carer in Carmarthenshire, visit Foster Wales Carmarthenshire.

To find out more about adopting in Carmarthenshire, visit Adoption Mid and West Wales.