A children's charity has issued a plea for more people to consider adoption.

Barnardo's Scotland has asked for more prospective adopters after figures revealed a 19 per cent drop in the number of adopters on the national register.

The charity has pointed to Scottish Adoption Register (SAR) figures that show the number of registered adopters has fallen from 209 at the end of March 2023 to 169 on the corresponding date this year.

In the 2022/23 time period, 135 prospective adoptive families were added to the register, but, in 2023/24, this number stood at 105 – a drop of 22 per cent.

Anne Whyte (Image: Barnardo's Scotland) Anne Whyte, assistant head of business for family placement Scotland at Barnardo’s, said: "We are currently seeking more applications from prospective adopters that can consider those children that wait the longest to be adopted.

"For example, there is what we would term ‘older children’ – i.e. those aged four years old and above.

"We’d also love to hear from those who would consider adopting brothers and sisters who live together or are being reunited, and/or those with complex needs.

"These children wait the longest for their ‘Forever Families’, and we are keen to close that gap."

There is a Barnardo’s Adoption Service online information session taking place on Thursday, November 28, from 12.30pm to 1.30pm.

For more information, go to https://tinyurl.com/bftfdwap.

A social worker who supports adopting families said: “As a social worker with many years’ experience of supporting individuals and couples through the adoption process, I can think of no greater work-related pleasure than witnessing first-hand the joy in the hearts and faces of children and their new parents brought together through adoption.”

A couple who adopted through Barnardo’s said: “Adopted siblings are the whole world to one another and we must keep that bond strong.”

Another couple added: “Our child might not be genetically ours, but every day we see our influence in his developing personality.

“He’s got his dad’s sense of humour and he’s adventurous with food like mum – and it’s like he has always been home.”