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New research on behalf of the "British Association for Adoption and Fostering" suggests that people looking to adopt are being hyper-critical of their potential ability to care for an adopted or fostered child.

One in four adults (25%) believe that being over 40 would stop someone from being able to adopt, 31% think that having a low income is a barrier and more than a fifth (22%) think having a disability would hinder them too. The fact is, none of these aspects would stop people from adopting, writing off the chances of potentially hundreds of happy 'forever families'.

Northamptonshire County Council says that more and more people are being approved as potential adopters, but they need more families to come forward.

There are currently 76 children in the county who need to be adopted.

Reporter Elinor Cross meets Mark and Peter, a gay couple in Northamptonshire who adopted a five year old girl. Stuart talks to Karen Theobald, a manager for the County Council's Adoption Service, to Councillor Catherine Boardman from Northamptonshire County Council, and to Christopher Cook from AdoptionPlus, an independent adoption agency in Northamptonshire which finds families for children with particular needs, often due to experiences of abuse and trauma.

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