A GAY couple have spoken over how they overcame the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic to become foster parents.

Andrew Clark, 53 and Ran Bradu, 47 from Woodingdean, were approved as foster parents in November 2019.

The couple are now long-term carers to to a girl who will stay with them until the age of 18 or until she can live independently.

The process took six months in total, during which time the couple received group and one-to-one training.

Normally, the couple would have been introduced to the girl face-to-face, but due to coronavirus, they had to meet via video call.

Andy said that while the pandemic made fostering difficult, the couple have managed to make it a success.

He said: “She was amazingly confident, she sang for us and was very grown up, telling us what she liked and what she didn’t like.

“We spoke about our family and her family and really got a feel for each other during the video calls.”

“We produced a welcome book for her, including photos of ourselves and our pets, and gave her a virtual tour around the house.

“It gave her a chance to familiarise herself with her new surroundings, so it wouldn’t be so daunting for her when she arrived.

“Once lockdown restrictions eased, we arranged to meet her face-to-face, while socially distancing.

“After this meeting, the process had been finalised and we ended up picking her up the following Thursday.”

Once lockdown restrictions eased, the couple introduced the girl to another carer and their child, so she had someone of her own age to talk to.

Ran said: “We also wanted her to have a female influence in her life. We’re fully aware that while having two men looking after a young girl, she still needs that girly time.

“We have also made it clear that she can talk to us about anything and have set up a great network with her.”

The pair fostered through ISP Fostering and are now now urging other LGBT people to consider fostering.

Ran said: “We feel that we’ve done as much as we can to really integrate her into the family.

“We’ve had the ultimate support from ISP and feel that everything has fallen into place. It feels like she was meant to join our family.

“It’s important to ISP and has been highlighted throughout the process that we’re matched perfectly with a child. "

For more information about becoming a foster parent, visit www.ispfostering.org.uk or call the friendly team on 0800 0857989.