September 28, 2011
Every Child Deserves a Mother and a Father
A colleague in the pro-family effort has alerted us to another effort underway in Europe to allow children to be stripped of their right to have both a mother and a father. The Council of Europe, in their desire “to promote the progressive development of legal principles concerning the legal status of children and parental responsibilities” is looking to throw wide the door for children to be adopted into any form of alternative relationship.
“This document is the ending of the natural model of family: family is replaced by purely artificial norms and concepts, states Grégor Puppinck of European Centre for Law and Justice. “It promotes a subjective and liberal vision of ‘family,’ especially on the establishment of affiliation [legal form of family relationship] in the context of medically-assisted procreation for registered partnerships of different and same-sex couples.”
“It puts on an equal footing all kinds of procreation and ‘parental’ relationships.”
In other words, the biological parents of a child are not necessarily recognized as having any superior position or right regarding the child – the parent is whoever petitions the legal system so they can then be declared the parent.
As you read through the explanatory memorandum, prepare to be confused. The document is a jumble of jargon intended to try to second-guess whatever kind of problem is going to arise from such a convoluted and unnatural scheme. It certainly makes you yearn for a simpler time when it was understood that the parents were the people who conceived and then delivered the child into the world.
The explanatory memorandum gives this clarification concerning parenthood and the document’s goals: “the aim of the recommendation is to “provide a balance between “the biological truth” reflecting biological and genetic parentage, and “social or psychological parenthood” reflecting the fact with whom the child is living and who is or would be taking care of him or her.”
So what is the “biological truth?” 
No matter what form of “reproductive technology” individuals used to obtain a child – artificial insemination, surrogacy, gestational carrier, etc. or if they simply claim a child from a prior relationship- there’s still a male’s sperm (father) and female’s egg (mother) involved in the process. Every child has a mother and a father – always. A same-sex union will never produce a child and adoption by same-sex couples requires that at least one biological parent sever their natural bond and render a child either motherless or fatherless. That is the “biological truth.”
While the terms “social or psychological parenthood” are as abstract as to mean just about any person who enters a child’s life and shows a focused interest could qualify as a “parent.” Putting such subjective terms into a family law framework doesn’t serve the best interests of children, but certainly works well for those with a social engineering agenda.
UFI commends and encourages married men and women who adopt children. Adoption has always been society’s attempt to return to a child that which was lost – a mother and a father. Adoption has never been, until recent years, about transcending biology to meet the desires of adults (heterosexual or homosexual). What the Council of Europe is setting up to do is facilitate a system that allows adults to intentionally strip children of their most basic right – their mother and their father.
Here’s another truth: Surviving in a home without both a mother and a father can have serious consequences for children and for society. For the specifics on the outcomes to children that come from divorced parents, heterosexual cohabitation, and same-sex and other alternate relationships, see UFI’s Guide to Family Issues: Cohabitation, Divorce, and the Marriage Advantage.
One thing is increasingly clear, governments can never create enough social programs to compensate for children not being born and reared in a stable home with their married mother and father.
How does this affect me and my family?
The Council of Europe “Recommendation on the rights and legal status of children and parental responsibilities” will be used as a new instrument to pressure the conservative European countries to change their laws on family to align with a liberal western European perspective on same-sex relationships and non-traditional heterosexual relationships – in spite of the fact that there is no obligation on the part of member states to accept these recommendations.
Grégor Puppinck points out that there are cases pending, right now, before the European Court of Human Rights on these issues, “especially on medically-assisted procreation, so, the outcome of this recommendation will have a direct influence of the case law, which applies to all Europe practices.”
The draft recommendation will be discussed in expert committee from October 12 through October 14. This will then be submitted to the Committee of Ministers before Christmas. If you live in Europe, please publicize this over-reaching and alert citizen to openly and actively oppose this new threat to the family.
If you live in the U.S., know that similar social engineering schemes are underway. In May, 2011, federal legislation was introduced that would legalize same-sex adoption throughout the country – over-riding existing state bans on same-sex adoption and striking down state statues that give priority in adoption to married men and women couples.
The sponsors of the legislation have given their bill an emotion-evoking yet deceptive name: “Every Child Deserves a Family Act” in an effort to convince citizens that same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt because there are hundreds of young children languishing because they need adoption or a way out of poorly run foster care programs. Don’t be fooled. The waiting lines are long to adopt a baby and less than 20 percent of children in most foster care systems are even eligible for adoption. The vast majority of children in same-sex couple homes are from prior heterosexual marriages and relationships, thus they already have a mother and a father.
“The hallmark of adoption law in the United States has always been the welfare of adopted children, as opposed to desires or interests of adoptive parents.”
Conclusion
Yes, “every child does deserve a family” but most importantly, every child deserves a mother and a father as part of that family. That is United Families International’s focus on every issue and every policy effort. We do this not out of disdain for other relationships or situations, but because, like you, we understand the importance of the natural, married family and we have the empirical data and research to support that common sense understanding.
We emphasize again the importance of being aware and actively involved in what is happening in your nation and community. Watch closely for laws, programs, taxes, and incentives that encourage women to not marry, avoid having children, terminate their unborn, or abandon their young for a career. These laws are damaging to society as are laws that encourage a father to avoid or shirk family responsibilities. Children are not autonomous beings. Statistically, they do not fare well without a mother and father in close proximity.
My invitation is for each of us to relish the privileges and responsibilities of family life. There has never been a time when strengthening the families of the world has been needed more than it is today. United Families International will continue to work domestically, at the UN, and in other international arenas to stop the progression of the same-sex agenda and other social engineering efforts. It takes all of us to protect the future for our families!
Sincerely,
Carol Soelberg
President, United Families International