Mother Talkers

Dutch parliament legalizes foreign adoption by gay couples

by SwissClogs

Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 11:40:29 AM PDT

Today, the Dutch parliament passed a law that will allow gay couples to adopt children from foreign countries. Adoption of Dutch children by gay couples has been allowed since 2001.

I have not found this reported in English yet. Since the original report is in Dutch, I provide a quick translation below the fold. Please follow me there...

Text in square brackets are clarifications added by me.

A comfortable majority of parliament now agrees with the government proposal to extend asoption rights.
Among those in favour is the [Christian Democrat party] CDA. This party was originally against gay marriage, but is of the opinion that now gay marriage is legalized, gay couples should also have equal adoption rights.
The only parties voting against are the [very conservative christian] Christenunie and SGP, who object on principle.

Since 2001 it has been possible for gay couples to adopt Dutch children, but adopting a foreign child together was not legal. It is expected that few foreign countries will cooperate with adoption by Dutch gay couples. For this reason, the procedures for adoption by a single parent will be shortened, so a single gay person will be able to adopt in a shorter time frame. Afterwards, his/her partner can then adopt the child in order to also legally become its parent.

The proposed law was introduced in parliament by CDA minister of justice [Attorney General] Ernst Hirsch Ballin...

I think it is wonderful that our government is now working to provide gay couples with ALL rights that heterosexual couples have enjoyed for so long. I do wonder whether some of the countries from where children are adopted and who object to adoption by gay couples will stop allowing single parent adoption completely, as they are no doubt aware that this will be the common route for gay couples to jointly adopt after all. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Anyway, I think this is great news!

Tags: adoption, family law, gay, gay marriage, gay parents, international adoption, Netherlands, same-sex families (all tags)

Permalink | 7 comments

  • a fine development (0 / 0)

    What was the motivation, SwissClogs? I note that there's been a lot of laws passed recently thought Europe outlawing discriminatory actions based on sexual orientation. Are member-states coming in line with some kind of EU directive at the moment?

    by Rachel on Thu Jun 28, 2007 at 05:15:51 PM PDT

    • No idea, to be honest (0 / 0)

      I have not seen anything that suggests this is to do with EU regulations, but I have not been keeping up with the news that well. If I see anything that explains the motivation I will add that here.

      Come to think of it, this particular law can't really be EU-inspired, because several (most?) EU countries are dead-set against gay marriage and everything that comes with it.

      Spain has been extremely active on this front recently, but that is because the conservatives are solidly out of power there and the socialists are playing catch-up (good for them!).

      by SwissClogs on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 12:37:32 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

      • you're right (0 / 0)

        I did connect this move by the Netherlands with Spain's legislation and thought was EU-driven. But you have a good point about the social conservatism of a lot of EU members - it's hard to imagine some of them liberalising their laws any time soon. So much the better for the Netherlands, then. Bravo (or whatever the Dutch word for "Bravo" is - I confess, I only speak Romance languages...)!

        BTW, what was the justification for permitting adoption of Dutch children by gay parents, but prohibiting adoption of forign children by gay parents?

        by Rachel on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 02:34:39 AM PDT

        [ Parent ]

        • Guessing here (0 / 0)

          but I think it would be to 'not piss off the neighbors'.

          When gay marriage was first legallized in 2001 it was even more controversial than it is now, and there may have been worries that foreign adoption by Dutch couples would be blocked completely by the 'donor countries' (is there a good term for this?). The Netherlands is regularly critisized (by the EU and the Vatican, especially) over its laws legalizing abortion, euthanaesia, 'soft-drugs', etc and I think lawmakers have grown into a habit of trying to minimize any impact on fopreign relations, while going through with the measures proposed.

          And by the way, 'bravo' will do just fine :-), we have a tradition of incorporating foreign words without translating and bravo is one of many.

          by SwissClogs on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 03:37:48 AM PDT

          [ Parent ]

  • great news! (0 / 0)

    Are there a lot of children within the Netherlands to adopt domestically?  My understanding has been that heterosexual couples in W. Europe tend to look outside their countries to adopt for that reason. (and also because it can take years to adopt domestically)

    by brave on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 02:35:44 AM PDT

    • Guessing again (0 / 0)

      but as far as I know you are right: the vast majority of adoptions is from abroad, probably because few children are given up for abortion in this country. The Dutch wikipedia entry gives numbers of 50 domestic and 1000 foreign adoptions per year for 1995-2005. And of that 50, I assume that a significant number is adoption by a de-facto parent, rather than a 'stranger'.

      My guess would be that the domestic number is low in part because 1st trimester abortion is legal here.

      I do not think procedures for domestic adoption would necessarily be much longer, as both the Dutch and foreign parts of the process are very intricate in the case of foreign adoption.

      From the Wiki:

      it is not possible for couples to sign up for domestic adoption exclusively. The [Dutch part of the] procedures is the same as for foreign adoption. When Kinderbescherming [government branch responsible for child welfare] approves a couple to become domestic adoptive parents, where contact with the birth mother and openness are possible, they may sign up for domestic adoption.

      Another point mentioned in the Wiki is that the mother of a Dutch child may come back on her decision to give up the baby up to three months after the birth, and the child lives in foster care for that period.

      by SwissClogs on Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 03:56:12 AM PDT

      [ Parent ]

  • Great news (0 / 0)

    This is great news. Thanks for keeping us up to date on news that doesn't seem to have hit the English-language media yet.

    --Dana
    Mombian: Sustenance for Lesbian Moms
    http://www.mombian.com

    by Dana on Mon Jul 02, 2007 at 10:46:07 PM PDT

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