There is uncertainty over the future of gay adoption in Northern
Ireland, as Chris Buckler reports
A gay couple have said they went to England to adopt because of
confusion over the law in Northern Ireland.
The Court of Appeal ruled that legislation which prevented gay,
lesbian and unmarried couples from adopting children in NI was unlawful. It was the only part of the UK where the policy existed.
However, Stormont's health minister plans to go to the Supreme
Court to try to overturn that decision and get the ban reinstated.
John Davis and Jason Scorer, who live in County Antrim, had
hoped to adopt children from Northern Ireland, but with uncertainty over the
legal position they were advised to consider other options.
"We were very lucky that our original social worker in
Northern Ireland had done a lot of homework before she came, to say that we
could not move things any further forward," said John, who has lived in
Northern Ireland for 20 years.
"The problem is a lot of people may not be aware there is
another option."
They contacted adoption and fostering charity PACT (Parents and
Children Together).
It helped the couple, who are in a civil partnership, go through
the process in England with the aim of giving children from there a home in
Northern Ireland.
"There are children waiting in the system (in Northern
Ireland) to find families but, unfortunately, we were not allowed to go down
that route," said Jason.
"And that is to the hardship of the children who are
here."
They adopted two boys at the start of the summer and they
started primary school last month.
"They are getting loved, they are getting looked after and
they are getting cared for," said John.
They say they know of other gay couples from Northern Ireland
who are now considering going through the adoption process elsewhere in the UK,
because the issue is still being debated in the courts.
The Department of Health at Stormont confirmed that Health
Minister Edwin Poots has now applied to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal
against the Court of Appeal's decision that the ban was discriminatory.
And he insisted the issue was about stability not sexuality.
"Unlike other parts of the UK... we have a strong list of
adoptive parents who want to take on adopted children," said Mr Poots.
"I think we should be cautious about changing the system
which actually provides the stability those children need.
"It is not a human right to adopt a child for either a mixed-sex
couple or a same-sex couple."
Gay and lesbian groups, as well as organisations like BAAF
(British Association for Adoption and Fostering), have criticised the
minister's decision to continue fighting the issue in the courts.
But he said surveys had shown support for his position.
"What I look at it is where the Northern Ireland public are
on these issues and what is in the best interests of the children," he
said.
"There is a lot of public opposition to it."
In Belfast, there were people with strong views on both sides of
the argument.
Those against gay couples having the right to adopt argued that
children needed both male and female role models and some claimed it was
against their religious beliefs.
However, many said that the only important thing was providing a
stable home for a child, irrespective of whether the couple were married or
their sexuality.
"You could argue all day about the gay thing - whether it
is right that someone who is gay should be gay," says John Davis.
"But I believe it goes back to the loving, caring
environment and stability that you can give these children, that they have not
had up to this point."
Source:
BBC NI
