There are more than 70,000 children in care in the UK, a shortage of more than 10,000 foster carers, and more than 4,000 children every year who need adopting.

The Family Wanted campaign aims to encourage people to think about whether they can become potential adopters and long-term foster carers. As part of that campaign, this series explores the issues surrounding adoption and foster care.

In the first of five programmes, shown across this week, Family Wanted meets Kamlesh and Sejal, a Hindu couple of Indian heritage, and follows them on their journey to becoming an adoptive family.

At the beginning of the programme, the couple have recently been approved as potential adopters. They have a four-year-old birth daughter but are unable to have any more birth children so decided to adopt. Their difficulty, however, is finding the right child to adopt, as there are few Hindu children who need new families.

At an Adoption Exchange Day organised by the Adoption Register for England and Wales, Kamlesh and Sejal see the details of a child who seems suitable. However, there is another family also interested in adopting him.

After several meetings and phone calls with the local authority, Kamlesh and Sejal appear to be the preferred family. A Matching Panel formalises the decision, and then introductions begin.

Family Wanted films the introductory period in which the adopters meet the child for the first time. The programme also follows the child as he moves into Kamlesh and Sejal’s home and meets his new sister. The little boy is now permanently placed with the family and is settling in well.

At the end of the programme, there is an appeal featuring a child or sibling group who needs a new family to adopt/foster them.

Monday 16 to Friday 20 July
10.35-11.05pm BBC ONE