Starting Monday, September 28 gay and
lesbian couples in Scotland will be allowed to adopt children, the
Herald Scotland reported.
Gay men and lesbians currently may
adopt children but only individually. Under the Adoption and
Children (Scotland) Act 2007, gay couples will be allowed to jointly
share in parental responsibilities.
The new law puts Scotland on par with
England and Wales.
Gay couples in Scotland are denied the
right to marry but may enter into a civil partnership, a legal union
similar to Vermont's 2000 pioneering civil union law. About 34,000
gay and lesbian couples have entered into a civil partnership in the
36 months prior to December 2008 in England, Wales and Scotland.
“What all children need and deserve
most of all is a safe, secure, loving and stable home environment and
same sex couples are equally able to provide this as opposite sex
couples,” Carl Watt, director of the gay rights group Stonewall,
told the paper.
A spokesman for the Church in Scotland
criticized the law, saying most gay couples are not interested in
adopting.
“Children need security and stability
and civil partnerships and same sex relationships are profoundly
unstable,” Peter Kearney said. “This change is unlikely to have
an effect on the shortage of adoptive parents because there are very
few same sex couples interested in adoption.”