Same-sex couple win adoption case after Catholic birth parents tried to oppose them
A same-sex couple have won a court battle to adopt a little girl after he biological parents tried to prevent them because of their religion.
The biological parents claimed that they opposed the adoption because of they Catholic faith.
The four-year-old was in the care system after being taken away from her mother who had a long history of drug abuse.
She also had been convicted of manslaughter of her 7-month-old son several years prior.
The couple have had the girl in their care since she was six months old and began proceedings to legally adopt her, however the mother opposed this because the parents did “not commit to raising the child as a Catholic”.
The lesbian couple said they did not want to follow the religion because of it’s opposition to homosexuality.
The girl’s birth father also pushed for her to be raised in a religious home, but judge Justice John Sackar ruled that neither the mother or father were fit to be her parents.
The judge in the case ruled that while cultural and religious traditions should be “preserved as far as possible”, they should not impact on the child’s wellbeing.
“Religion of course is only one of a multitude of factors the court is to consider in determining CJD’s best interests,” he said.
“While the birth parents’ religious beliefs must be respected, the proposed adoptive parents’ attitude to the Catholic faith requires equal respect.”
The couple who won the case said that the birth parents would still get regular visits and they would be open to using Bible stories, and of course in the future if the girl wanted to take up religion then she would not be prevented.
