Adoption Law


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Word 		  If you died, who would they
give your children to?

If you and your spouse died unexpectedly, who would take care of your children? Preference would be given to any family members who applied, or anyone you appointed in your will, but ultimately, the courts decide. Under plans currently before Parliament gay couples will legally be allowed to adopt. Would you be happy for your children to be raised by a homosexual couple?

You can protect your own children by making legal provision for guardians, but what about other children? Don’t they deserve protection from the alarming prospect of being adopted by homosexuals? There are currently thousands of children in care. They are some of the most vulnerable children in Britain. Adoption should give them the best possible new start, not throw them into an experiment in social engineering.

There is certainly a need for more children to be adopted out of care and into loving married families. The real barrier to adoption is not shortage of married couples but bureaucracy and political correctness. Why are 90% of adoption enquirers put off or rejected?(1) Some are told they are too fat, or too rich, or too Christian! These are the barriers to adoption which the Government should be concentrating on.

Children as political pawns
The Bible is clear that God cares about orphans (Deut 10:18; James 1:27) and therefore so should we. We should speak up for those that cannot speak for themselves. How many children would be happy about being told they were to be adopted by ‘two daddies’? Adopted children already know they are ‘different’, the last thing they need is to be made even more different. Their lives will be difficult enough as it is. Yet their voice is not heard above the deafening calls for gay rights at any cost.

And that is exactly what this is. Gay rights activists are using these vulnerable children as political pawns. The best interests of the child are swept aside in the pursuit of societal acceptance of gay rights. Europe’s largest ever review of gay parenting research, Patricia Morgan’s Children as trophies?, amply showed that children are seriously disadvantaged when raised by same-sex parents. This is common sense to most people, who instinctively know a child needs male and female role model.(2) Yet this is being ignored by the Government.

Most people are against homosexual adoption. Even supporters of gay rights, like Jack Straw, think gay adoption is a step too far. Whilst he was Home Secretary, Mr Straw said: “I’m not in favour of gay couples seeking to adopt children because I question whether that is the right start in life. We should not see children as trophies.”(3)

Under the Government proposals, cohabiting couples will also be allowed to adopt. This plan should be resisted equally strongly. Why should two people who have not committed themselves to each other be allowed to commit themselves to a child? Children need stability and security but cohabiting relationships are inherently unstable. Of the cohabiting couples who don’t go on to get married, 83 per cent break up within ten years.(4) In contrast, most marriages last for life. However, the evidence has, again, been ignored. The Government’s plans for gay and unmarried adoption do nothing to promote the best interests of children. Instead, they promote the message that marriage is no different to any other type of relationship. And it is inevitable that this message will affect what is taught in schools.

The timetable
In the Commons MPs have already backed the plans for gay and unmarried adoption. Soon it will be the turn of the House of Lords to debate the issue. The vote is expected on 16 October. If the Lords throw out the proposal the Government may back down and leave the law as it is.
Key points:
  • 84% of the public oppose homosexual men adopting children.(5)
  • Even pro-gay researchers now admit that children brought up by homosexuals are more likely to enter a homosexual lifestyle themselves.(6)
  • Cohabiting couples are 6.5 times more likely to break up within five years of the birth of a child than married couples.(7)


References
1 Adoption, Prime Minister’s Review –Issued for Consultation, A Performance and Innovation Unit Report, July 2000, pages 35-36
2 This is intrinsic to the Fifth Commandment - see Exodus 20:12
3 The Rt Hon Jack Straw MP, speaking on the Today Programme, BBC Radio 4, 4 November 1998
4 Berthoud, R and Gershuny, J (Eds.), Seven Years in the Lives of British Families, Policy Press, 2000, page 29
5 Jowell, R et al, British Social Attitudes (The 11th Report), Dartmouth Publishing, 1994, page 196
6 Stacey, J and Biblarz, T J, ‘(How) does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?’, American Sociological Review, 66, 2001, page 163
7 Kiernan, K, ‘Childbearing Outside Marriage in Western Europe’, Population Trends, 98, Winter 1999, Office for National Statistics, The Stationery Office, page 19

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