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. In Gwent, LGBTQ+ foster carers looked after 15 children in 2025.
This LGBTQ+ Adoption and Fostering Week, starting March 2, Foster Wales Blaenau Gwent is urging LGBTQ+ people to consider making enquiries to become foster carers and change lives in 2026.
In Foster Wales Blaenau Gwent there are currently 201 of children currently 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.
Foster carers Aaron and Matte from Blaenau Gwent have been looking after children through Foster Wales for over 9 years and have welcomed more than 18 young people into their home. They say they fell in love with fostering from the first placement and have seen first-hand the difference a loving, stable home can make to a child’s life. As Aaron and Matte put it “Just do it. Make that first phone call or have that first home visit. You’ve got nothing to lose by contacting the local authority and finding out more information”.
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 visit: https://fosterwales.gov.wales / Find out more about adoption in Wales: adoptcymru.com