British grandparents lose custody of children to homosexual couple

Feb 3, 2009 / 04:36 am

Two British grandparents aged 59 and 46 have been told that they are too old and unfit to care for their grandchildren, who are to be placed with an adoptive homosexual couple.

The children had been in their grandparents’ care during their mother’s struggles with heroin. After their mother failed to bring them home from a visit, social workers became involved and the police were called in.

The children, a five-year-old boy called “Josh” and his four-year-old sister “Chloe,” were placed in foster care, an arrangement the grandparents believed to be temporary.

The local adoption and foster council went to court four times to have the children permanently removed and adopted, but each time the court ruled in favor of the grandparents.

According to The People, the council threatened to hire expensive lawyers, causing the grandparents to abandon their legal fight because of the potential legal fees and because of their fear the court hearings would prevent the grandchildren from having a settled home.

The unnamed 59-year-old grandfather, speaking in an interview with The People, said the day the social workers came to take away his and his 46-year-old wife’s grandchildren was “the worst day of my life.”

“Chloe was still little and although we were saying goodbye and reassuring her we'd see her soon, I don't think she fully understood we wouldn't be putting her to bed that night and we wouldn't be there when she woke up. But Josh knew and he was howling. He was holding on to me and saying 'Please, Granddad, don't send me away. I want to stay with you and Grandma'.”

Two weeks ago they learned the children were to be adopted by a homosexual couple.

“"If we had known how it would turn out, that social workers would choose a home without a mother for them and we'd have to like it or not see them again, we'd never have given up the fight,” their grandmother said.

"The thing is they were so happy here. They knew they were loved and they were safe.

"They had all this countryside to play in. They loved going on the farm with their granddad. They'd see deer and badgers and all sorts out there.”

The children are now with a foster mother while they are gradually introduced to the homosexual couple.

The grandparents claim that social workers told them their access to the children would be restricted if they opposed the homosexual adoption, according to The People. Last week the grandparents were told they would never see their grandchildren again because they had made public the fact that the children were taken from them and to be adopted by two homosexual men.

According to the Telegraph, the case is believed to be the second time that a homosexual couple has been chosen to adopt in Edinburgh.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland, criticized the adoption, saying:

"This is a devastating decision which will have a serious impact on the welfare of the children involved.

"There is an overwhelming body of evidence showing that same-sex relationships are inherently unstable and reduce the life expectancy of those involved.

"With this in mind, the social work department has deliberately ignored evidence which undermines their decision and opted for politically correct posturing rather than providing stability and protection.

"It is impossible to see how this decision is in the best interests of the children," Kearney remarked, according to The Scotsman.