A COUPLE who spent their first Christmas with their adopted twin boys have backed the adoption process.

Same sex couple Mike and Andy Forrester, who adopted twin boys Richard and Mark, both five, in June this year, said they are in full support of the current system which could be reformed.

The pair, from Blackburn, spoke out after the government announced plans to overhaul the assessment process for people looking to adopt due to concerns the system is too slow.

According to the latest Government statistics, children wait an average of two years and seven months before being adopted, while this process takes more than three years in a quarter of cases.

Potentially suitable adoptive parents are often turned away because they may not be the right ethnic match, are overweight or may have smoked.

Office-worker Andy, 40, said: "I would say the adoption process is a fair and necessarily robust one.

"You have to make sure everything is right for both sides - the last thing you want is for an adoption to break down because the process was rushed or corners were cut, that would be far more damaging for the child.

"The process was not as intrusive as we thought it would be - in fact it was a really positive experience and quicker than we first thought. We first applied in December and had our first meeting with the boys in May."

The boys, who spent two years in foster care, unwrapped an array of dinosaur related toys on Christmas Day and the family shared a full of roast turkey, their favourite chocolates and lashings of lemonade together for the first time.

Richard said: “I'm happy because by getting adopted we were chosen by a family who wanted to love and care for us." .

Mike said: "We were both absolutely terrified of meeting the boys, we were petrified of what they would make of us.

"But we need not have bothered, they took to us straight away."

Councillor Maureen Bateson, Blackburn with Darwen Council's executive member for children's services, said: "We have dozens of children in the borough alone waiting to be adopted, if you are interested, please come forward and talk to us."