Adoption Revamp Set To Be Passed

Unmarried and same sex couples in Sciotland will get the legal right to adopt children under legislation expected to be passed at Holyrood. MSPs are expected to back the new law despite opposition from the Catholic Church and efforts by the SNP’s Roseanna Cunningham to block the bill. As the law stands, only married couples or a single person can adopt.

It is argued the move will give extra rights to children and reverse the decline in numbers offering to adopt.

The Adoption and Children (Scotland) Bill was given the backing of MSPs in September. About 400 children a year are adopted but there are thousands currently in the care of local authorities.

Patrick Harvie from the Green Party said it was vital to press ahead with full-scale reform. He said: “Children brought up in a loving relationship do better, children brought up in a stable family environment do better – that’s very clear – but that doesn’t mean that marriage is the only acceptable model.
The question for the state and for society is how best do we support all families to do the best job they can. You don’t do that by simply saying that some families are second class.”

But the SNP’s Roseanna Cunningham stressed that all children have had a father and mother and said that this was the upbringing which families should be based on. She added: “This is not about gay rights, this is about children and for me the evidence shows that children do best in what we call a traditional family setting. That’s what we should be seeking to replicate for children who have lost their parents.”