New figures published this week show that there were a record number of adoptions in Scotland to same-sex couples couples in 2021. In total there were 44 adoptions to same-sex couples, out of a total of 480. The previous high was 41 adoptions in 2019. The new figures show that 9.2 per cent - or 1 in 11 - adoptions in Scotland in 2021 were to same-sex couples.
Despite these record figures, Scotland remains behind England and Wales in the proportion of adoptions to LGBTQ+ people, with England recording 1 in 6 adoptions to same-sex couples in 2021 and Wales 1 in 8.
No UK country successfully records the full engagement of LGBTQ+ people in adoption. The data collected is on the composition of the adoptive family - one man and woman, two men, two women - rather than sexual orientation or gender identity data of the adoptive parents. This means all data above excludes single adoptive parents, bi people in an opposite gender relationship and trans people in an opposite-gender relationship.
| Year |
Male couples |
Female couples |
Total same-sex couples in Scotland |
| 2010 (earliest year on record) |
4 |
1 |
5 |
| 2011 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| 2012 |
7 |
1 |
8 |
| 2013 |
11 |
3 |
14 |
| 2014 |
7 |
|
17 |
| 2015 |
11 |
11 |
22 |
| 2016 |
24 |
6 |
30 |
| 2017 |
23 |
7 |
30 |
| 2018 |
23 |
5 |
28 |
| 2019 |
27 |
14 |
41 |
| 2020 |
11 |
7 |
18 |
| 2021 |
32 |
12 |
44 |
Source of Data: National Records of Scotland
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