UFI has NGO status with ECOSOC and works to spread their opinion to United Nations (UN) ambassadors and delegates on family related issues.

[11][12] United Families International was founded in 1978 by Susan Roylance[1][2] of Washington state and Jan Clark of South Carolina.

[11] The organization received ECOSOC accreditation[12]: xxxi  and participated in the World Congress of Families II Conference in Switzerland in 1999.

[12]: 82 UFI has brought its platform to international organizations, including the UN in 2002, at which it joined more than 300 activists in urging diplomats to "reaffirm marriage and promote sexual abstinence among teen-agers."

[14] The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) first designated United Families International as an anti-gay hate group in 2012.