Emily Graves spoke with Gemma Gordon-Johnson from First4Adoption about the need for more people to adopt in the UK and getting rid of the myths surrounding religious people adopting.

Emily: Where do all of these myths come from?

Gemma: I think there's a variety of ways. Word-of-mouth is one way. We share things that have happened in the past. I think that's what we're trying to do at First4Adoption and the adoption sector itself: trying to do everything it can to bust those myths and religion is just one of those instances.

Emily: The research showed that religious people are more likely to adopt. What is it about having some sort of faith that encourages people to adopt compared to people that don't?

Gemma: I think the research itself was just picking up the characteristics of people, so it was actually quite interesting that it came out that people of a faith would have this higher propensity to adopt. But it also did show other findings similar to that. So I think in some senses those people with a faith may want to do something in terms of goodwill for society and I think that is what adoption is about, because it is a community issue. More and more children are going into care which means more and more children are up for adoption and as a society we need to get together and resolve that issue.

Emily: You are working with the Evangelical Alliance to help get rid of this myth. How did this partnership come about?

Gemma: On the back of the research, we've been contacting organisations and seeing whether we can develop partnerships and Home for Good were exactly that. We spoke to them and they wanted to do their first national adoption Sunday and it seemed a great partnership; that we could provide the phone line, as it were, for them, so if any enquiries came through they could get that right information and be encouraged to pursue their journey as adopters.

Emily: And so, looking forward, how are you going to work alongside the Evangelical Alliance?

Gemma: We will basically review everything in 6-8 months' time and see whether we move things forward and whether we continue the relationship forward. I'm sure that the good work that Home for Good are doing in terms of adoption and getting that message out to the 50,000 people in churches and conferences and festivals that they have access to is only a good thing in terms of the need for adopters in England.

Emily: Is there anything else that really stood out when it came to the research?

Gemma: It was the actual percentage; nearly over half of the people that we were looking at in that bracket were saying they had actively practised a religion. I think it's also helped in terms of adoption agencies within England now working a lot more with faith-based organisations and getting into churches and getting the message out around adoption.

Emily: And you mentioned earlier on that the good side of things is that the rate of adoption is on the rise in the UK as a whole.

Gemma: In September 2013 the Department for Education released some information around adoption rates - and it was saying they had risen to 15% - and that was up from the previous year. Basically that was the highest since 1992 - but looking in terms of the figures of children that are waiting, the number of children waiting will continue to increase, so although we are making great progress, there is still work that needs to be done for us to say we have enough adopters for the number of children waiting to be adopted.

Emily: What makes adoption so special and important?

Gemma: I think it's an alternative way to make your family. We talk to many people here at First4Adoption that come through to us from very different routes, whether it is that they've had birth children or not had their own birth children. It's basically saying to everybody, everybody's welcome here and there aren't specific characteristics that make you a good adopter, because as I've said previously, it really is ordinary people doing extraordinary things.