Madonna adoption fuels public misconceptions, says Baaf

Publicity around Madonna’s adoption of an African boy has fuelled public misconceptions about adoption to the detriment of looked-after children, a leading charity said today.

Releasing a survey of 1,000 people by GMTV, the British Association for Adoption & Fostering said almost three-quarters wrongly thought adopting a child was easier from overseas than from the UK.

And 58 per cent thought more children were adopted from overseas than the UK, though in reality, fewer than 400 children are adopted from overseas compared to around 4,000 from the care system.

Baaf chief executive David Holmes warned: “If people think it’s harder to adopt a child from this country than a child from elsewhere, they may not consider domestic adoption. That would be disastrous.”