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.
Foster Wales Pembrokeshire is urging LGBTQ+ people to consider making enquiries to become foster carers and change lives in 2026.
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.
Pembrokeshire Fostering Team Manager Oliver Mathias said: “We know that children and young people thrive when they are cared for by adults who are open-minded, compassionate, and able to value who they are. At Foster Wales, we are proud to welcome carers from the LGBTQ+ community and from all cultures, faiths, family structures, and walks of life.
“We are committed to respecting and celebrating diversity, and to ensuring that everyone who comes forward to foster is treated with dignity, fairness, and respect. What matters most to us is not who you are or who you love, but your ability to provide a safe, nurturing, and accepting home where children can feel valued and belong.”
Foster carer Sian Evans said: “I didn’t really feel that being gay played any part in my journey to becoming a foster carer – which is the way it should be. My sexual orientation is only a small part of who I am and what I have to offer, and I have received nothing but respect and professionalism from social care workers.
“I only see it as a positive, in that I can better support some of the young people I meet.”
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.”
