Home ›

Adoption and fostering by gay couples to become easier in Scotland

Submitted by Kerry on Wed, 2009-04-22 19:22.

By Staff Writer, pinknews.co.uk

April 22, 2009

Scotland's Children's Minister, Adam Ingram, has announced that the Scottish Government will introduce regulations to make it easier for gay couples to jointly adopt children. A decision that has already outraged the Scottish Catholic Church.

Unlike England or Wales, in Scotland only one partner in a same-sex couple can legally adopt a child. The changes will be implemented through regulations attached to a an earlier Adoption bill.

Children's Minister Adam Ingram MSP said: "This government is clear that the most important concern is meeting the needs of the child, regardless of the potential carer's sexual orientation.

"Where adoption by a same-sex couple is the best option for a child, that route should be available.

"That's what already happens through existing laws and what this legislation strengthens."

The regulations will also allow gay couples to jointly foster children, something that has outraged the Scottish Catholic Church.

Last month, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the leader of the Scottish Catholic Church said: "The proposals are as misguided as the change to allow same-sex adoption,"

"In a consultation at the time of the change in adoption law, 80 per cent of respondents opposed the change yet the government ignored their concerns.

"A mass of evidence attests to the instability of unmarried relationships and the chronic instability of same-sex partnerships yet worryingly it is ignored.

"Since less than two per cent of the population is homosexual and a minority of this group are in a stable relationship, which would allow consideration as foster parents, it is difficult to see how the changes advocated can have any impact on widening the potential pool of foster families.”

But Mr Ingram stressed that decisions on carers are made in the best interest of the child "The decision to take a child into care is always made on the best interests of the young person and the numbers are increasing, suggesting those in need are being identified and agencies are intervening to get them support and security.

0
  • Login to post comments
  • 1830 reads

The "Christian" response

Submitted by Kerry on Wed, 2009-04-22 20:43.

It just so happens another piece, Hushed report: gay adoption puts kids at risk of bullying, was posted on the pages of The Christian Institute.  According to that article:

Earlier this year Edinburgh City Council had prompted an outcry with its decision to place two children with a gay couple against the wishes of their grandparents who wanted to adopt them.

The grandparents were told if they did not drop their objections they would be banned from seeing the children.

This was then followed by news that the Scottish Government was going to look into the effects of gay adoption on children but keep the results private.

The report has now been published after a freedom of information request from the Scottish Daily Mail.

In its conclusions, the report says that “even when parents are aware of bullying they tended to minimise and normalise bullying accounts to prevent being undermined and held accountable”.

It also praises lesbian couples who have children, stating that “co-mothers” show more willingness to “adjust their careers around their children in order to be more involved in parenting” than “fathers in comparible heterosexual relationships”.

However, the review admits that it “is based on a review of only eight papers and does not claim to have captured all existing relevent research”.

In recent months several Roman Catholic adoption agencies providing crucial adoption services for ‘hard-to-place’ children have been forced to cut ties with their Dioceses or to face court action because of new ‘gay rights’ legislation.

The Scottish Government approved gay adoption in 2006 despite the fact that at the time 90 per cent of the population opposed it.

The report, The Experiences of Children with Lesbian and Gay Parents - An Initial Scoping Review of Evidence, can be found here:  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/04/17093220/6

Meanwhile, I'm still stuck wondering  how the issue of sexual orientation is NOT a concern for those considering the needs of children.  Doesn't anyone care about the effects pedophilia has on fostered/adopted children?  After all, can't a pedophile be hetero, homo, OR bi-sexual?

Pound Pup Legacy