Many parents-to-be are frustrated by the social limitations of gender stereotyping. They don’t want their girls to only play with tea sets and dolls or their boys to be dressed only in blue pretending to be policemen and playing with diggers and trucks. Gender-neutral parenting gives children free choice and nurtures creativity, self-awareness and identity…
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Parental orders: a vital step for families following surrogacy
Surrogacy is an increasingly common route to parenthood for both LGBT and heterosexual couples. The number of parents finishing their surrogacy journey with an application for a parental order in England has risen every year since 2009-10, with 295 applications made in the past year. But does this figure tell the whole story when it…
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Types of fostering placements
Short-term/task-centered fostering There will be a task centered plan for this child with specific tasks such as integrating them back into their family within six months. There may be specific work that needs to be done with the child around behavioral issues such as setting firm boundaries. Leaving care A young person reaching adult age…
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Applying to foster: the process
Want to find out more about fostering? Here are the next steps. Call a foster agency and make an initial enquiry. They will invite you to an open evening to learn more. A social worker will come to your home for an initial visit to talk it through in more detail and do some checks…
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Becoming a foster carer, 11 myths demystified
There are still many misconceptions about who can foster. Here are the top 11. I can’t foster because… I’m too old. Your age is not a barrier to becoming a foster carer. I am single. Anyone can foster regardless of whether they have a partner or not. I’ve got pets. So long as your pet…
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The rewards of becoming a foster carer
Being a foster carer can be a challenging job, but the rewards are varied and quite personal. Some foster carers find it so fulfilling, they foster many children throughout a long fostering career. Here are some of the positive benefits of being a foster carer. Positively change a child’s life You’re providing a foster child…
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In-depth guide to foster caring
Are you interested in becoming a foster carer but don't know enough about it? Perhaps you assume your circumstances or expectations mean you wouldn't be accepted. Here, with help from Achieving for Children, we get all your questions answered. There are now 70,000 children in care. Many of these children are on the adoption register…
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Worldwide surrogacy: an update
Sam Everingham runs Families Through Surrogacy, a not for profit organisation providing advice and support on international surrogacy. Building up to their EU conference in London on 5th March and Dublin on 6th March he gives us a round up of notable changes in worldwide surrogacy. Sam lives is Australia with his partner and twin…
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Getting fresh in the flesh: fresh sperm vs defrosted frozen sperm
Alice Ellerby and her lesbian partner want a family one day so they've started looking into their options. As an aerialist and performer Alice was inspired to create Mother Mother, a collaborative show about lesbians' experiences of becoming mothers. In part two of Alice's guest blog she gets a rare opportunity to see life being…
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Interview with Susan Golombok
Susan Golombok is director of the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge. Her fascinating book, published in March this year, brings together over thirty years of research into new family forms – forms which include lesbian and gay-parented families, single mothers by choice, and families created through assisted reproduction techniques (ART). The…
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