Parents tend to want the same things for their kids - to grow up healthy and happy. Simple. But what do children want from their parents? For thousands of children in the UK who need to be adopted or fostered every year, all they is want parents who will love and care for them.
When applying for a job, you cannot be discriminated on race, gender or sexual orientation. As a father of four, I know that being a parent is best job in the world, so the same rules should apply.
Sexuality and parenthood is an issue that evokes strong opinions from across society. But society is changing and families come in all shapes and sizes. At Action for Children, we want people from all walks of life to consider becoming adoptive parents or foster carers - being a good parent has nothing to do with being gay or straight. It's about being able to provide a loving, happy and stable environment and giving some of our most vulnerable children a chance to have a family - something many of us take for granted.
This week is New Family Social's LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) Adoption and Fostering Week and we are working together to ramp up the awareness that sexual orientation is not a barrier to becoming a parent. Surprisingly, our own research showed that one in three (36%) people within the LGBT community thought it was a barrier, slightly more than the 32% of the general public who also thought this.
We need to dispel these myths and help children achieve their dreams of having families. Families like Joe, 39, Michael, 47, and Archie, five, from Kent. Having been together for 11 years and helping to look after nieces and nephews Joe and Michael knew they were ready to become parents. They wanted to give a home to a child, a child who they could take out of the care system, and in 2012 they became Daddy Mike and Daddy Joe.
There is no need for any child to be in care when there are people out there who can give loving homes. I find it remarkable that if just one per cent of the LGBT population adopt or foster, every child in the country would have a loving and stable home which they can thrive in.
If after reading this blog you realise that you can offer a child a loving home, then we want to work with you - let's start talking about what can be done, rather than what can't.