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The government has announced a drive to increase adoption rates for children in care, in a bid to break current barriers faced by potential parents and children.
Education secretary Michael Gove wants to increase the speed at which adoptions occur, as he believes too many children are being denied homes as councils are too slow to place them with suitable families.
He said some of the limitations put on adopters previously, based on ethnicity, sexual orientation and faith, had been "social engineering of the worst kind".
Adoption rates are currently at the lowest level for 11 years, with an estimated 4,000 children in the UK on waiting lists to be adopted.
New measures are recommending that white couples should be allowed to adopt black and ethnic minority children and that they should not turn away willing adults on the grounds they are too old.
Currently black children take over 50 per cent longer on average to be placed for adoption than children from other ethnic groups.
And children over five are four times less likely to be adopted compared to children under five in the last year.
The guidance makes clear that local authorities should consider adoption as an important option for more children, which should be pursued with more vigour.
And it suggests that local authorities make full use of the voluntary sector, adoption consortia and the Adoption Register which helps to match adoptive parents with children.
Gove said that race should not be a deal-breaker if prospective adopters are able to demonstrate that they are able to be good parents.
Writing in the Sun, the education secretary critcised the current "politically correct attitudes and ridiculous bureaucracy".
Gove, who was adopted at four months old, said he "can never adequately repay" his parents.
He said: "I want to make it easier for the most vulnerable children in our society to secure the love, care and opportunity I was fortunate enough to enjoy."
Children's minister Tim Loughton said it had been "disappointing" that some councils placed just 2 per cent of the children in their care for adoption, while in other areas the rate was eight time more.
"I want to see more children placed for adoption, where this is in their best interests, particularly those who may have been overlooked, like older children, children from BME backgrounds and those with disabilities," he said.
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