FOI reference: FOI-2026-3752
You asked
Please provide any recorded information held by the Office for National Statistics which provides data on parenthood, childlessness or family formation broken down by sexual orientation.
Recognising that Census 2021 primarily captured household relationships rather than asking a direct question about lifetime parenthood, I am particularly interested in any existing data, analysis or proxies which provide information about lifetime parenthood or childlessness by sexual orientation.
In particular, please provide:
Any existing statistical models, research briefs, tables or analytical outputs produced by ONS using Census 2021 data which provide information on lifetime parenthood, childlessness or family formation by sexual orientation.
Any existing tables or analytical outputs cross-tabulating the Census 2021 sexual orientation variable with family or household characteristics showing whether individuals or couples were living with dependent or non-dependent children.
Any equivalent or similar existing cross-tabulations or analyses produced using the Annual Population Survey or other ONS demographic datasets between 1 January 2021 and the date of this request.
We said
Thank you for Freedom of Information request.
Please see our publication Sexual orientation by household composition. This is the dataset that most closely resembles your request. It provides Census 2021 estimates that classify usual residents aged 16 years and over in households in England and Wales, by sexual orientation and household composition.
Please also note that for Census 2021, the sexual orientation question was voluntary and only asked of people aged 16 years and over.
We don't produce any births/fertility tables which would be relevant to your request. However, in the Births in England and Wales: linked births dataset, note 13 quotes the number of live births registered to same-sex couples under Human Fertilisation an Embryology Authority (HFEA) Live births registered to a same-sex couple in a marriage or civil partnership (1,820 in 2025) are included with marital live births, while live births registered to a same-sex couple outside a marriage or civil partnership (846 in 2025) are included with live births outside marriage.
Our Families and households in the UK - Office for National Statistics publication has several datasets that could be helpful:
Families and households - Office for National Statistics dataset provides estimates for same-sex cohabiting couple family broken down by 'no children or non-dependent children only' and 'dependent children'.
Families by family type dataset provides breakdowns of same-sex cohabiting couple family by 'no children or non-dependent children only' and 'dependent children'.
It is worth noting that up until 2019, data for Civil Partnerships would have covered just same-sex couples. From 31 December 2019 further to provisions set out in the Civil Partnership Act 2004 and the Civil Partnership (Opposite-sex Couples) Regulations 2019, opposite-sex couples in England and Wales became eligible to form a civil partnership from 31 December 2019. This means that from 2020 onwards, estimates of civil partnership couple families and households will include both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. However, if data up to 2019 is of interest, there are estimates for civil-partner couples, broken down by 'no children or non-dependent children only' and 'dependent children'.
Quality and Methodology information is available in Families and households, UK quality and methods guide - Office for National Statistics
We understand you are interested analysis already available, from 2021 onwards. We unfortunately do not hold any analysis providing breakdowns of sexual orientation by parenthood or childlessness.
With regards to your third point, please see Sexual orientation, UK: 2024 -- this statistical bulletin uses data from the Annual Population Survey and therefore is more contemporary than datasets produced from Census 2021 but unfortunately, it does not include the household composition variable. It is worth highlighting that tables 4a and 4b in our Sexual orientation, UK dataset include breakdowns by marital status which may be of interest.
If you have any further questions, please contact pop.info@ons.gov.uk.