Adoption by same-sex couples -- reaffirming evidence: could more children be placed?

A sea-change in attitudes toward the acceptability of same-sex relationships has taken place in the twenty-first century. The UK has been at the forefront of legal changes in allowing same-sex couples to adopt children (the Adoption and Children Act 2002) and groundbreaking research on the well-being of these children. Over a decade on from our previous review for Family Law we evaluate the empirical evidence on the gains for children adopted by same-sex couples in the following areas: psychological adjustment, family relationships, and openness about adoption. Further examination is given to considering the motivations to adopt expressed by lesbian and gay adoptive parents. This includes a willingness to adopt children who have often been deemed hard-to-place, which is reflected in our local authority data too. Yet both adoption services and prospective lesbian and gay adoptive parents still appear hesitant at points of assessment and placement. Given national statistics on the numbers of children waiting for adoption, could more be done to place these children in suitable homes headed by a same-sex couple?