Gay adoptions may go ahead in Scotland

Under controversial plans by the Scotish Executive, Unmarried couples, Including Gay and Lesbian couples will be allowed to adopt jointly.

Following similar changes to adoption laws in England and Wales, Scotland may soon follow suit and grant adoption rights to lesbian and gay couples within a few months.

Currently, same sex couples in scotland cannot register for adoption together. Instead, one would be parent has to register as a single parent for sole adoption rights.

But since the introduction of Civil partnership legislation in the UK, Scotlands laws will have to be updated to take into account legally recognised partnerships.

The Catholic church, however is still content to let children suffer for the want of a parent, saying the proposals were gravely immoral.

Adoption agencies say that the plans would help ease the backlog of children hoping to find a home with loving parents.

He said the changes would be made in the best interests of the child, something disputed by Cardinal O'Brien, who accused lesbian and gay people of having "fragile" relationships. "Such a measure would distort the understanding of the family, cause harm to children and promote the status of homosexual relationships," he told The Scotsman newspaper. "Homosexual unions are notoriously fragile and unstable,

"To place children in such a situation is to put them in an environment that is not conducive to their full human development."

The number of children adopted across the UK continues to fall, with many agencies blaming the bureaucracy of the process as a primary reason why many potential parents are deterred.