I also found it terribly insulting that we weren’t taken seriously when we reported neglect and abuse although all of our reports were later acknowledged as true. Our dealings with the police, SOCA, DHS, CPS and the agency were strained too as each accused each other of incompetence, telling us that we should have done things differently and not wanting us to talk to the other.

They are some of the reasons that we felt we were in an impossible situation and we didn’t feel comfortable caring for another child. What would we do if we suspected another child of being abused when nothing was done the first time? On top of that, since we decided to pursue local adoption we’ve been told by DHS that they don’t want us to do foster care now or at any time in the future if we want to adopt as part of the Local Infant Adoption Program.

After all of that I can understand why there’s a shortage of carers.

Being an lesbian Australian, I must admit I am astounded at how the government tries to convince the GLBT community to become foster parents whilst in the same breath denying us the right to form our own families through same-sex marriage, access to IVF and adoption. I don’t understand the mindset that believes that GLBT people are good enough parents to take care of this country’s abused and neglected kids, but are not good enough parents to raise their own children.