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Our foster carers Martine and Emma share with us their journey as written by them as LGBTQ foster carers.
Being part of the LGBTQ community will not affect the chance you can give a child.
When we started out on our fostering journey the fact that we were two women (married) did not enter our minds as something that might be considered as a deterrent. And of course it wasn’t!
Together as parents we have successfully raised a confident, caring and intelligent 14 year old. We have both enjoyed careers as secondary school teachers specialising in Drama, English and Music and inspiring children to develop not only academically but celebrating them growing and developing personally. We decided that we wanted to make a difference to vulnerable children’s lives and that after 24 years of teaching that I would change direction by becoming a stay at home full time foster carer whilst Emma continued to work as a teacher.
We had a spare room that could be used and so we took the plunge and started the process to become foster carers with Pathway Care. We are pleased that we did! The fact that we were a same sex couple did not affect the process in anyway and we have consistently felt respected and valued for the care we provide to young people by the agency we are with and the wider professional team involved.
We have always lived by the principles that we should not be treated any differently or receive negative or positive discrimination based on our sexuality as this does not influence or determine who we are as people and foster carers.
We have found that most people in our personal and professional lives would never consider our family any different from their own, as we are no different. Which brings me to my point that love is love, care is care and being part of the LGBTQ community will not affect the chance you can give a child. Remember you as a person can make a positive difference by becoming a foster carer!
Told by Martine & Emma.
If you are interested in finding out more about fostering, get in touch with us today.