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Felicity Collier, chief executive of BAAF Adoption and Fostering, is optimistic that an amendment to the Adoption and Children Bill allowing unmarried couples to adopt children will gain the backing of the House of Lords.

She was speaking after a Lords debate on the bill resulted in the amendment being passed without a vote. Twenty-one peers spoke in the six-hour debate - 12 in favour and nine against.

The amendment, tabled by former social worker David Hinchliffe, Labour MP for Wakefield, would allow unmarried and same sex couples to jointly adopt children. Currently, unmarried couples can adopt, but only one person has the legal status of adoptive parent.

MPs have backed the amendment, but some peers voiced concerns that unmarried couples that adopt couldn't offer children the same amount of consistency and security as a married couple.

Collier said: "Hopefully at the end of the day it's about the rights of children and not about undermining marriage. On the balance of debate I think this will go through."

The bill has gone to committee stage and will return to the Lords for a vote before the summer recess.