England needs about 940 additional adoptive families for children currently awaiting placement, according to a new report from children’s charity Coram and Adoption England. The findings have prompted Christian debate about whether the rise of IVF, surrogacy and egg freezing is contributing to the decline in adoption recruitment.
The report, Every Day is Everything, said 2,060 children with court Placement Orders were actively being considered for adoptive families as of March 31, 2026. After accounting approximately for sibling groups that may be placed together, those children were estimated to need 1,580 families. About 640 approved families were actively seeking a match, meeting 41% of the estimated need, according to the Coram report.
The wider gap has also grown. The number of children with a Placement Order who had not moved into an adoptive home rose from about 1,980 in 2021-22 to 3,010 in 2025-26, a 52% increase. Over the same period, approved adopter families awaiting a match fell from 2,590 to 1,400, while adopter registrations declined 15% and approvals fell 25%.
Coram and Adoption England modeled several possible recruitment scenarios through 2030. If registrations fell another 15%, the available pool could meet about 13% of estimated need, leaving a shortfall of roughly 1,380 families. If registrations returned to their 2021-22 level, the shortfall could fall to about 110 families and nearly 990 additional children could be placed. The organizations emphasized that the figures are illustrative scenarios, not predictions.
The report does not attribute the adoption gap to IVF, surrogacy or egg freezing. It identifies falling recruitment, approvals, matching suitability, sibling placements, timing and changes in the pool of children and families as factors affecting the figures. Coram’s official campaign page says the response is to encourage more people to consider adoption through its Every Day is Everything campaign.
However, the Christian Institute has argued that assisted reproductive technologies are part of the explanation. Citing comments attributed to Coram Chief Executive Carol Homden, the institute reported that some couples are undergoing more rounds of IVF before considering adoption and said adoption should be presented as a viable route to forming a family. The Christian Institute’s account characterized the issue as raising ethical questions about IVF, surrogacy and egg freezing, rather than as a conclusion established by the Coram study itself.
Christian views on those procedures remain divided. The Vatican’s Dignitas Infinita says, “A child is always a gift and never the basis of a commercial contract,” while the Christian Institute has separately raised concerns about the treatment and destruction of embryos in some IVF procedures. The Coram and Adoption England campaign is now seeking more prospective adopters as agencies continue working to match children with permanent families.