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 | Denmark |
| Iceland |
| The Netherlands: Co-parent adoptions are not permitted to les/gay couples. 1 |
| Sweden: An enabling bill was passed in 2002-JUN and came into effect on 2003-FEB-1. |
Recent developments:
| 2001-FEB-13: In Norway, The secretariat of the National Council of the Church of Norway (the Kirkerådet) decided to support the Labor government's aim of changing adoption laws so that registered homosexual partners could adopt children. The Council felt that adoption by same-sex partners was a valid but not optimal arrangement. They decided that love, security and stability outweighed what they consider to be a sub-optimal situation that parents of the same sex represent. 2 | ||||
| 2002-SEP-10: In South Africa, the Constitutional Court ruled that laws which allow joint adoptions only by married couples violate constitutional guarantees of equality, dignity, and the best interests of children. A case was brought by a lesbian who petitioned to adopt the child of her unmarried partner. The court ruling has legalized adoption by same-sex couples. This is the first African country to take this step. The court ruled that the "failure by the law to recognize the value and worth of the first applicant as a parent to the siblings is demeaning." The court modified the law to allow "two members of a permanent same-sex life partnership" to adopt. 3 | ||||
| 2002-NOV-5: Britain became the fifth European country to
permit these adoptions. Their House of Commons had passed a
bill authorizing adoptions, but the House of Lords had voted it down.
On its second try, the House of Lords passed the bill. It was later signed into law. It allows single individuals, both heterosexuals
and homosexuals, to adopt children. However, heterosexual couples living
common-law and same-sex couples will not be permitted to adopt. As expected, opinions on the passage of the bill were mixed:
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| 2003-OCT-28: USA: The Associated Press reported that about 60% of adoption agencies in the country accept applications from gays and lesbians. They were primarily public, secular, Jewish and Lutheran agencies. However, resistance remains strong among many other church-affiliated agencies. A decade previously, this percentage was near zero. | ||||
| 2003-NOV-27: Australia: A bill has been
introduced in the Australian Capital Territory that would recognize partners of
lesbian parents who conceive children through IVF to be recognized as parents.
7 | ||||
| As of
2006-FEB-28, we are filling in this section with information during 2004 and
early 2005. | ||||
| 2005-NOV-16: Israel: In a major development, the Be'er Sheva Family Court recognized that a lesbian couple are parents "in every regard with equal responsibilities for the child's economic, familial and physical concern" according to the plaintiffs' lawyer. One of the women gave birth to the child with the help of a sperm donor. 5 | ||||
| 2005-DEC-05: Belgium: A bill to allow adoptions by same-sex couples has passed the country's Lower House and is being debated by the Upper House. If the bill passes into law, parents would be able to adopt children from elsewhere in the world, as long as the child's country of origin does not restrict same-sex adoptions. 6 | ||||
| 2006-FEB-27: Scotland: Rev Joseph Devine, Bishop
of Motherwell, sent a letter to Jack McConnell, the First Minister of
Scotland, condemning the proposal that all couples be allowed to apply to
adopt children -- both same-sex and opposite-sex. A similar law was passed
in the rest of the UK in 2005-DEC. He described the measure as "...yet
another violation of family life." The Herald newspaper reported that
Bishop Devine wrote:
"No doubt for refusing to pander to the idea that homosexual and lesbian relationships are equal to heterosexual partnerships, particularly those blessed in the sight of God, I shall be termed a bigot by the politically correct hardcore in the Scottish Parliament," He added that he is "...not prepared to stand by and watch the destruction of Christian values and truth....What started as a tolerance and compassion for gays had developed into the suppression of the majority heterosexual lifestyle. Traditional family values are in the dock and the judge and jury are composed of politically correct extremists." Bishop Devine continue that he has watched: "with mounting disquiet the forces of political correctness corrupt our moral, political and social order...Now their insidious influence threatens our innocent and vulnerable children." In 2006-JAN, Cardinal Keith O’Brien asked that the government introduce a "conscience clause" so that Catholic adoption agencies would be allowed to deny same-sex couples consideration as potential adoptive parents. The government refused the request. 7 |
See also our essay on foster parenting by same-sex couples.
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- Nancy G. Maxwell, et al., "Legal protection for all the children: Dutch-American comparison of lesbian and gay parent adoptions," at: http://www.ejcl.org/31/
- "Church of Norway approves homosexual adoption," AftenPosten, at: http://www.aftenposten.no/english/
- "South African Court Finds Right to Joint Homosexual Adoptions," Marriage Watch, at: http://www.marriagewatch.org/news/
- "Britain Parliament OKs Gay Adoptions," Associated Press,
2002-NOV-5, at:
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld - "Court OKs Lesbian adoption," GayLawNet, 2005-NOV-16 at: http://www.gaylawnet.com/
- See link at GayLawNet, at: http://www.gaylawnet.com/
- Terry Vanderheyden, "Scotland Bishop Blasts Parliament Decision to Allow Gay Adoption. Says tolerance for gays has 'developed into suppression of majority heterosexual lifestyle'," LifeSiteNews.com, 2006-FEB-27.
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Site navigation: Home page > "Hot" religious topics > Homosexuality > Parenting > here |
Copyright © 2002 to 2006 by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 2002-NOV-6
Date of last update: 2006-FEB-28
Author: B.A. Robinson
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