The ever-improving success of IVF has led to fewer children being adopted, a leading young persons' advocate has said.
According to the NHS, 29% of IVF treatments given to women under 35 now result in a live birth.
Anthony Douglas of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) told the Daily Telegraph: "IVF used to be around 7% successful and now it's around 30%.
"So as a choice, adoption is competing with lots of other ways of having children."
In March 2017, a Department of Education report revealed that in England there were 72,670 children in care – 2,220 more than the year before.
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However, the report also revealed that the number of children adopted from care had fallen to 4,350 – down around 20% from 5,460 two years earlier.
Douglas, chief executive of Cafcass, which represents children in care, suggested that the growing success of IVF isn't the only factor deterring prospective parents from choosing to adopt.
“Every child deserves a family to live and grow up in, but adoption still takes twice as long as it should, which puts people off,” he told the Daily Telegraph.
"Most children will come with some damaging experience that needs therapeutic support and they may have difficulties through their childhood. To assess and train for that… does take some months, but it’s still taking too long."
In its 2017 report, the Department of Education said that the average length of time between a child entering care and that child being adopted had fallen in a year from 30 months to 24 months.
Last month, Refinery29 shared the stories of two women who became single parents after deciding to adopt.
"My daughter had been in care for two years when I first read her profile," said Katrina, a self-employed woman from London, who adopted her 13-year-old daughter Leah eight years ago.
"I felt hers was a history I could deal with and openly talk about without finding it difficult," Katrina continued. "She moved in with me in 2010; it was a challenge at first. You're taking on an emotional and vulnerable child, and you become a sort of mini therapist. The behaviours she’d exhibited when she first went into foster care happened again.
"But I knew she’d been doing well in foster care so I knew we could get back to that. Luckily Leah is now much more able to control her emotions."
For more information about adoption visit the government's website, and consider contacting independent adoption agencies like Coram.