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(The Hague) The Dutch government announced
Wednesday it will bring in legislation to allow same-sex couples to adopt
children abroad.
The Netherlands became the first country in the
world in 2001 to legalize gay marriage. The legislation allowed same-sex
couples to co-parent the biological children of either partner and to adopt
children born in the country but expressly forbade foreign adoptions.
The provision was put in to avoid an
international storm over the marriage law.
On Wednesday Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner
said that the restriction treated many same-sex couples unfairly because a
number of countries now permit gay couples to adopt and the Netherlands has only
a small number of children available for adoption.
Donner also noted that many gay and lesbian
couples already are adopting abroad, using a loophole in Dutch law which allows
single people to adopt.
The legislation must be approved by
Parliament. No date for a vote has been set.
The Netherlands reached the five year milestone
in same-sex marriage last month.
Since then the quest for same-sex marriage has
spread around the globe. Belgium became the second country to legalize same-sex
marriage in 2003. Spain and Canada followed last year.
This December South Africa is expected to become
the fifth country following a court ruling last year that gave the government 12
months to amend its marriage law.
In the United State only Massachusetts permits
gay and lesbian couples to wed.
©365Gay.com 2006
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