A new investigation in Scotland into whether or not children are harmed by gay adoption should have taken place before MSPs approved the practice two years ago, campaigners say.
Laws allowing gay couples in Scotland to adopt were passed in 2006 despite significant public opposition – almost nine in ten people were against the plan.
A new study has now been announced which will look at the “experiences” of children being cared for by at least one homosexual.
The issue returned to the fore last month after Edinburgh City Council told a couple who protested against their grandchildren being adopted by two gay men that they would not see the children again unless they dropped their opposition.
The children – a four-year-old girl and five-year-old boy – were placed with the gay couple despite there being heterosexual couples keen to adopt them.
A public outcry followed with politicians, commentators and campaigners asking why the Council had ignored evidence that children need a mother and a father.
Commenting on the planned study, The Christian Institute’s Mike Judge said: “Surely this kind of study should have been done prior to the legalisation of gay adoption at Holyrood in 2006.
“Research overwhelmingly shows that while it is perfectly possible for a gay couple to love a child, the ideal situation is for them to be raised by a mother and father.
“What is absolutely chilling is that in the Edinburgh case, all the grandparents wanted was a man and a woman to become the children’s adoptive grandparents.
“The fact that the council cannot accept that is testament to the huge and disproportionate influence the gay lobby has.”
The legislation allowing gay adoption in Scotland does not come into effect until June this year. Individual homosexuals are currently allowed to adopt, but their partners have no legal rights.
The new study is expected to examine attitudes towards and experiences of children with “one or more parents (adoptive or biological) who identify themselves as lesbian, gay, bisexual and/or transgender”.
There are concerns that the study may take a selective approach in order to bolster arguments in favour of gay adoption following the controversy in Edinburgh.