UK mother fails in Court of Appeal bid to halt her children’s adoption by homosexuals
LONDON, October 25, 2012, (LifeSiteNews.com) - Court of Appeal judges turned down a mother’s plea not to have her two children adopted by a homosexual couple.
The mother of the two boys, aged four and six, appealed an earlier court decision that ruled she was incapable of looking after her children because of alcoholism, when she discovered that councillors in the north London borough of Camden had decided the boys would be placed with two homosexual men.
Justice Dame Janet Smith, sitting with Lord Justice Longmore and Lady Justice Black at the Court of Appeal in Holborn, heard that the mother and the boys’ father had been “distressed” to learn that the prospective adopters were homosexuals.
Tony Blair legalized same-sex adoption in 2002.
The mother, described as a highly educated woman who had been “very successful” in early life, and the father of the children had met at a detox clinic but had never beaten their dependence on alcohol. Last September, the children were taken from the mother and placed for adoption.
The mother began her battle to reclaim her children when she became aware of Camden Council’s decision in April.
At the Appeal Court, the mother’s lawyers stated that a month’s intensive treatment for her alcoholism had been successful and the woman had overcome her addiction. The court was told the woman attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings regularly, was now alcohol-free, and had severed her relationship with the children’s father.
In dismissing the mother’s appeal, Dame Janet commented that though the case revealed “a sad human story” she believed the mother was “out of touch with reality and capable of telling a pack of lies.”
“It is just too good to be true that a woman with the deep-seated shortcomings displayed by this mother could have been transformed in four weeks,” Dame Janet said.
Camden Council argued that the two homosexual men had successfully passed the selection process and the council was convinced they will “provide a secure and loving home” for the children. They also pointed out that if the court found in favor of the mother, the ruling could have wide-ranging legal ramifications affecting the authority of local councils to place children with homosexual and lesbian couples.
Councillor Angela Mason, Camden’s cabinet member for children, said, “The gay couple who have been approved to take over care from the mother went through a rigorous selection process and we are convinced they will provide a secure and loving home for the children.”
“The evidence was all one way,” Dame Janet concluded. “This couple are suitable adoptive parents and there is no specific reason to think that the placement might fail.”
The mother is seeking permission to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. Camden Council has agreed not to proceed with the children’s placement with the homosexual men pending a decision on the appeal application.
The Labour government of Tony Blair has passed a bill in 2002 to allow unmarried couples and homosexuals to adopt children in the UK.
However, experts the world over agree with the assertion of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith that homosexual adoption is harmful to children.
“There are absolutely no grounds for considering homosexual unions to be in any way similar or even remotely analogous to God’s plan for marriage and family. Marriage is holy, while homosexual acts go against the natural moral law,” the CDF states.
Speaking specifically to the issue of whether those in homosexual relationships should be able to raise children, the CDF states, “As experience has shown, the absence of sexual complementarity in these unions creates obstacles in the normal development of children who would be placed in the care of such persons. They would be deprived of the experience of either fatherhood or motherhood. Allowing children to be adopted by persons living in such unions would actually mean doing violence to these children, in the sense that their condition of dependency would be used to place them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development.”
Contact information:
Camden Council
Councillor Angela Mason, Cabinet Member for Children
Town Hall, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9JE
Phone: 020 7974 1969
Fax: 020 7974 5915
Mobile: 07920 534972
E-mail: angela.mason@camden.gov.uk
Camden Council
Councillor Angela Mason, Cabinet Member for Children
Town Hall, Judd Street, London, WC1H 9JE
Phone: 020 7974 1969
Fax: 020 7974 5915
Mobile: 07920 534972
E-mail: angela.mason@camden.gov.uk
