MEDIA RELEASE: Queensland MPs must put the adopted child first, not same-sex couples.

AMF logo“No Queensland lawmaker who puts the best interests of the child first can support a proposal for same-sex adoption”, according to Dr David van Gend, a GP and President of the Australian Marriage Forum.

So few babies; so many infertile couples
“There are so many childless married couples, and so few children up for adoption. Why would we not give a child her chance of both a mother and father figure in her life?” Dr van Gend said.

“In 2014 only 317 children were adopted in Australia, the lowest number on record. Most of these children (72%) were ‘unknown’ to the adults who adopted them.[i] The queue of childless married couples is years long, and most will never get a chance to adopt. Why, then, would policy makers consider adopting children out to same-sex couples?

“Everything else being equal – i.e. where the married couple and same-sex couple have identical educational level, economic wellbeing and good character so that the only difference between the couples is that one gives a child both a mother and father figure and the other does not - how can any lawmaker argue that it is better for a child to be placed with a single-sex couple?

Dr van Gend pointed out some relevant findings in social science:

1. Instability of same-sex relationships:
Same-sex couples have been found to be less stable, so they should not be preferred for the adoption of children. For example, a longitudinal population study in Norway and Sweden found that male couples were 1.5 times and lesbian couples were 2.7 times as likely to break up as married heterosexual couples.[ii]

2. Emotional stress on the child:
Children have been found to suffer increased emotional stress in same-sex households. The peer-reviewed study (Sullins, 2015[iii]) finds that children raised by same-sex couples have between two and four times the rate of significant emotional problems compared to children raised in opposite sex couples.

“With that finding, no lawmaker should vote for a structure of same-sex parenting that has been found to be, on average, detrimental to children”, Dr van Gend said.

It's about the child, Minister, not ideology

Communities Minister Shannon Fentiman said today, “As a society we do not tolerate discrimination. It is only fair that members of the LGBTI community have the same rights as any other Queenslander and that includes the right to raise a family with an adopted child.”

"Minister Fentiman says she does not tolerate discrimination, but she actively discriminates against the adopted child by violating her birthright to have both a mother and father relationship", Dr van Gend said. "It's about the needs of the child, not the 'rights' of gay adults".

Why would we do this to a child?
“While there are valid concerns about the relative instability of same-sex couples and the adverse emotional outcomes of same-sex parenting, the ‘precautionary principle’ requires that we do not set children adrift in these uncharted waters.

“But none of the research findings are as important as the fact that only a man-woman couple can give a child the basic human experience of having a mother and father. While there are so many childless married couples willing to adopt the tiny number of children available in Australia each year, how is it in the interests of a child to be adopted by two men?" Dr van Gend concluded.

[i] Adoption stats for 2014 at http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-10/australia-adoption-rate-falls-to-lowest-annual-number-on-record/5956204
[ii] Andersson et al article at http://www.demogr.mpg.de/papers/working/wp-2004-018.pdf
[iii] Sullins article at http://www.sciencedomain.org/abstract.php?id=21&aid=8172

Government Statement at http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/8/6/palaszczuk-government-acts-to-legalise-samesex-adoption

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