Scots adoption agency tells gay couples not to be discouraged
The Scottish Adoption Association has told gay couples not to be put off by the “very negative publicity” surrounding the issue of same-sex couples adopting children. The publicity in question is believed to relate to the complaints of the grandparents of two Edinburgh-based children who were adopted by a gay couple.
According to PinkPaper.com, Margaret Moyes, Chief Executive of SAA said many disillusioned couples have withdrawn from the process because of the negative messages abounding in the Scots media. One couple, Ms Moyes claimed, actually withdrew for that very reason. She said, “I am really keen to make sure we get the message out that there are lots of children waiting for adoption, and we need to find parents from as wide a group of people as possible.”
The SAA has successfully placed over 3,000 children and Ms Moyes has been commended by Edinburgh Council for her indefatigable work for the agency and the children placed in its care.
New Family Social, a charity working on belhalf of the lesbian and gay community in the UK, said that the LGBT population is an important source of potential adoptive parents.
The charity’s Director Andy Leary-May said he hoped that gay men and lesbians in Scotland who would like to adopt felt able to come forward. He told PinkPaper.com: “The change in Scottish law allowing same-sex couples to adopt jointly came into effect more recently and I’m glad agencies are already so welcoming of prospective LGBT adopters.”
In view of the fact that the Scottish Adoption Association, along with other such agencies, collectively improves the lives of thousands of children in care and finds hundreds of adoptive and permanent foster families for children every year, Ms Moyes added, “We need to convert the theory into the reality that gay people are good parents. We’d really like to see a significant increase in gay adopters.”
