23 March 2013

Mum And Dad Matter For Adopted Kids - Poll

An independent poll of 1,000 New Zealanders by Curia Market Research has found majority support for families with both a mum and a dad having priority for adoptions.

Respondents were asked “Should families where there is both a mum and a dad have priority for the adoption of babies and children?” 52% of respondents say that families with both a mum and a dad should have priority for adoptions - 38% disagreed.

There was a significant difference by gender, with women split almost equally and men strongly in favour of priority for families with a mum and dad. The proposition also increased in support by age. National party voters were most in favour by a margin of 2:1.

“This result is significant because politicians are currently considering the Marriage Amendment Bill which will automatically open up adoption to same-sex couples,” says Bob McCoskrie, National Director of Family First NZ.

“But same-sex couple and single parent adoption where there is no biological connection, and surrogacy, potentially harms children because it intentionally creates motherless and fatherless families - at the same time as we express concern at the high rates of absent fathers and solo parent households.”

“While a compassionate and caring society should come to the aid of children who have lost their father and/or mother, it is dangerous ground to intentionally give children who become wards of the state no father or no mother. Who wants to tell a 15 year old boy that we didn’t think he needed a dad, or a 14 year old girl that we don’t think she needs a mum?” says Mr McCoskrie.

“The two most loving and capable women in the world simply cannot provide a daddy - and two men cannot provide a mum. A child has a right to a mum and a dad. Death, divorce and disaster may not always deliver that, but we should not set out in public policy to deny a child that basic right," says Mr McCoskrie. "This is not a sexuality issue. This is a gender issue. The gender of the parents does matter to a child.”

“Significant changes to adoption laws should not be done as an incidental outcome of changing the definition of marriage."

ENDS

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On Failures Of Care For Those With Mental Disabilities

Hard to imagine a more disturbing insight into the treatment of the vulnerable than the Health Ministry report on Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau. The Ministry has found that the country’s only kaupapa Maori intellectual disability residential care provider has been “seriously dysfunctional.”

The ministry says the business has failed to recruit and retain quality staff – and says the kaimahi (caregivers) that have been employed are seriously unsuitable for the job, lacking basic knowledge. But Te Roopu Taurima o Manukau doesn’t get all the blame. The report says there’s a significant gap under disability laws to ensure there’s oversight by qualified clinical professionals. More>>