Britain: Parents from Slovakia sue to halt adoption of their children by gay couple

The BBC reports that the parents of two-year-old and four-year-old sons, originally from Slovakia, have been unable to prevent them from being adopted by a British same-sex couple. The children were offered for adoption over concerns about the way their parents were raising them.  

The parents have objected to the children growing up with no ties to their own family and roots. The case has now made it before the High Court.

The court heard evidence that the boys’ older siblings’ school attendance was poor, that they were left alone and "over-chastised" – the father admitted he had beaten them – and that they sometimes appeared dirty and unkempt. The judge came to the conclusion that the parents are incapable of changing the way they raise their children and decided that both of the little boys should be adopted. 

The judge did also say the adoption should be implemented "sensitively with respect to their identity and needs". The British media report that the parents are Catholic Roma and that they are claiming the current plan to have their children raised by two men does not fulfill that requirement.

The parents argued to the court that Catholic bishops in Slovakia have condemned same-sex marriages and that the Romani community does not recognize homosexuality. They have also charged the authorities in Kent county in southeastern England with engaging in "social engineering", allegedly attempting to transform the children into English members of the middle class through this adoption.  

According to the Family Court, which is part of the High Court of England and Wales, the parents have no legal basis for appeal. Sir James Munby, the most senior judge, told the BBC that the matter must be adjudicated according to English law with reference to "the standards of reasonable men and women in contemporary English society."

The parents are now appealing to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It is probably going to be months before their appeal is heard.