France: First same-sex couple adopts after equal marriage and adoption law passed
The first gay couple to adopt a child in France has done so five months after a law was passed to allow equal marriage and adoption rights.
The couple were identified by Le Monde as Caroline and Pascale A, and were married back in June. On Thursday they received approval for one of the wives to adopt the children of the other, who are Laure and Lise.
According to the report, both of the children are the result of artificial insemination by an unknown donor, or donors.
The Association of Gay and Lesbian Parents and Future Parents celebrated the announcement, and said that it may be heard in the hallways of schools in France: “Two mums or two dads, it’s possible!”
A law recognising equal marriage took effect in May, but several mayors rejected it as a matter of “conscience”.
Earlier this summer Jean-Michel Colo, the mayor of Arcangues, in south-west France, refused to marry a gay couple and said ”I will go to the gallows” in order to defy the law.
