Brussels, Belgium, May 4, 2005 / 22:00 pm
The recently approved law by the House of Representatives in Spain, with regard to “marriage” among same sex couples, has placed Spain, together with The Netherlands and Belgium, among those countries in the European Union that are most identified with homosexuals. This news has reopened the discussion on the right of homosexuals to adoption, as it is normally recognized for heterosexual couples.
According to a Gallup Institute survey, 42 per cent of the citizens in the European Union agree on the authorization for children adoption versus 55 per cent who do not think the same. Like in the case of homosexual “marriages”, rejection to adoption of children is even greater among citizens from countries known as adherents (the ten countries that joined the European Union last year in May) and the rejection may go up even to 76 per cent of those participating in the survey.
The legislation in the various European countries, with exception of The Netherlands and Sweden, where homosexuals have that “right” recognized since many years ago, have been inclined gradually to grant equal rights to heterosexual and homosexual couples, but still with few outcomes.
In Germany, for instance, heterosexual couples who may want to adopt children must go through an exhaustive exam in which they must proof not only their financial capability, but also their ethical and moral “health”. Up to now the German laws do not permit the adoption of children by homosexual couples.
It is a similar situation in France, because by law adoption is not permitted for same sex couples, although the law recognizes the right of children adoption for a single person, which is not the case in other countries.
In England and Italy, there is not an official registration of homosexual couples, and no adoption right is recognized for them.