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Gay adoption

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  • 08-05-2010 4:14pm
    #1
    DidierMc
    Closed Accounts Posts: 219 ✭✭


    Is it time we made it legal in Ireland? Obviously couples should be strictly vetted like anyone else


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    #2
    Annasopra
    Registered Users Posts: 41,062 ✭✭✭✭Annasopra


    DidierMc wrote: »
    Is it time we made it legal in Ireland? Obviously couples should be strictly vetted like anyone else


    Technically it is legal - gay people can adopt as single persons. There are many children already being parented by same sex couples in this country

    I think that the Civil Partnership Bill should include a provision that gay couples who are Civil Partnered can adopt jointly

    It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

    Terry Pratchet



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    #3
    Pink Adoptions
    Closed Accounts Posts: 121 ✭✭Pink Adoptions


    DidierMc wrote: »
    Is it time we made it legal in Ireland? Obviously couples should be strictly vetted like anyone else

    It is the problem: gay couples cannot adopt as a couple.
    And obviously, vetting should be just as strict as for any other couple: no more, no less.

    Ironically, if gay marriage becomes a reality, or if the civil partnership end-up including family right, it could cause issues to gay couples who go through the international adoption.

    Today, they have the choice to adopt as a single person, and be assessed as a couple. In that case the foreign country will know of their situation and therefore only gay-friendly countries can be chosen (note that Ireland is not one of those countries...)

    If tomorrow gay couples have family rights in Ireland... they may no longer have the choice to simply adopt and be assessed as a single person.

    In other words, gay couples will have to face discrimination head-on once they are given the rights they are craving for and are entitled to.
    It may be a good thing, as by principle lies should never be involved in an adoption. But one can argue that some lies are legitimate when faced with discrimination.

    But that is only a side-effect and it is only a side-effect because of the despicable "don't ask, don't tell attitude". So it will be a good thing when gay couples can adopt domestically as a couple, and when they can apply as a couple for intercountry adoptions.

    The next step will be to make adoption easier, they way they did it in the UK and USA.
    At present, the dogma of “reuniting with the birth family” means that some children cannot benefit from adoption while the social services live under the unrealistic illusion that the best interest of the child is to be reunited with their birth families.
    The dogma is not valid for a lot of dysfunctional families, and it would be in the best interest of the child to accept that adoption can benefit these children more than being moved from foster family to foster family between failed attempts of reunion with the birth family. The health authorities should have clearer guidelines of when to call it quit, and when to look at adoption as the next best option.

    It is not a question to “increase the supply”. Children are not a commodity.
    It is a question to ensure the best interest of the child comes first, before any dogma coming from another time.


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