RADIO DJ Toby Anstis has spoken about his experiences of being adopted, and backed the search for more foster carers and adopters in Oxfordshire.

The DJ, who presents Heart FM’s weekday morning show, was adopted when he was a baby along with his twin sister Kate.

Oxfordshire County Council arranges adoptions for between 25 and 30 children each year.

In the county there are currently eight children waiting for adopted homes, some of whom are siblings, a difficult group to find placements for.

Some 300 foster families care for the children in the run-up to the adoption.

Mr Anstis, 38, said: “I think we must have always known we were adopted, but I just can’t say exactly when mum and dad told us for the first time.

“When we were 13 or 14, they sat us down and showed us documents, giving a few details of our birth mum and dad.

“That was quite surreal, confusing and exciting at the same time.

“I was probably too young to really understand what it meant, but they were very open and loving about it.

“They always have been.

“I think basically, our ‘mum’ was too young to keep us.

“She was a single, 18-year-old girl who’d met an Italian guy when she was studying in Italy, come home and found out she was pregnant.

“She was under immense pressure from her father to give us up. It must have been traumatic for her.”

The siblings found and met up with their birth mother when they were 25.

Mr Anstis said: “The first time we met our birth mum it was pretty weird for all of us. There were uncomfortable silences and not knowing what to say made it surreal.

To meet your ‘mum’ for the first ever time, 25 years after you were born, is always going to be scary.

“But she is a lovely woman. We’ve seen her since, and will do again soon, all with the support of our parents.”

The council needs to recruit 35 foster parents across the county to look after children before they are adopted.

Mr Anstis has encouraged people in Oxfordshire to consider signing up to give other children like him a home between homes.

He said: “It is an incredibly generous and brave thing to do – to take on children with different genes and backgrounds.

“But it could be the most rewarding thing you ever do.

“There are so many children who need a permanent loving home. And I know there are special people out there, like our parents, who should really consider making those first gentle steps toward adopting.”

For more information about fostering and adoption, contact Oxfordshire County Council on 0800 783 5724 or oxfordshire.gov.uk/fostering