Call for separate adoption laws from NZ's gay marriage debate
Family First NZ is calling on politicians to treat any changes to the Adoption Act as distinct and separate from the current debate on redefining marriage.
"Significant changes to adoption laws should not happen without appropriate debate and consideration. Changes are being sneaked in under the radar and many people are unaware that changes to the Marriage Act will automatically confer rights to same sex couples to adopt," said Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.
"The Select Committee report spent very little time discussing the issue of adoption - yet it has huge ramifications for the children involved. There is no need to overhaul the current law because the Adoption Act isn't broken. There is no huge queue of children desperately waiting to be adopted. There is no shortage of suitable married couples wanting to adopt."
"Same sex couple and single parent adoption where there is no biological connection and surrogacy potentially harms children because it intentionally creates motherless and fatherless families - all at the same time as we express concern at the high rates of absent fathers and solo parent households," said Mr McCoskrie.
"A child has a right to a mother and a father. Death, divorce and disaster may not always deliver that, but we should not set out in public policy to deny a child that basic right. Who wants to tell a 15 year old boy that we didn't think he needed a dad, or a 14 year old girl that we don't think she needs a mum?"
"The two most loving and capable women in the world simply cannot provide a daddy - and two men cannot provide a mum," says Mr McCoskrie.
"This is not a sexuality issue. This is a gender issue. The gender of the parents does matter to a child, and our adoption laws should reflect that. And it's a separate issue to same-sex 'marriage'."
