Same-sex couples are fuelling a rise in adoption rates, official figures show, as a charity claims that they are more willing to care for “harder to place” children.

According to the latest family court statistics, adoption orders by same-sex couples represented 12 per cent of all adoptions in England and Wales in 2018/19. This is compared to just seven per cent five years ago.

The family court data, analysed by Wilsons, a leading private client law firm, shows that this rise comes despite the overall number of adoptions falling.

Jacqueline Fitzgerald, Partner and Head of Family Law at Wilsons says: “Same-sex couples are playing an increasingly important role in adopting children.”