Ward, who recently appeared in the film Jane Eyre and TV series Hustle, revealed that knowing how to be the perfect parent to her two sons was a challenge after setting up home with writer Rena Brannan, as reports The Standard.

In an interview with the same newspaper, Brannan said: "Also as a same-sex parent family, we had few legal rights so we did what we could with wills for example. Another issue is that the children of gay parents are faced with the decision of whether to ‘out’ their family when they meet new people. The boys take the view that it’s none of their business unless the person already knows."

The number of same-sex couples becoming parents grows year by year, Ward thus hopes that there will be a better support for these new families.