Adoptive parents in France and Britain could find it more difficult to adopt Russian orphans now that parliaments in both countries have approved same-sex marriages, the Foreign Ministry’s human rights ombudsman said Wednesday.
“The legalisation of same-sex marriages in Britain and France reduces the opportunities for citizens of these countries to adopt Russian children,” Konstantin Dolgov wrote on his Twitter blog.
Gay marriage is illegal in Russia, and officials have said same-sex couples should not be allowed to adopt children, a position that was reiterated by children’s ombudsman Pavel Astakhov in an interview published by Rossiiskaya Gazeta on Monday.
“The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child says every child has the right to a mom and dad. Adults don’t have the right to a child,” he said.
In fact, the convention, which entered into force in 1990, does not contain the words “mother” or “father” — except a clause about pre- and post-natal care for mothers — and refers only to “parents” and “legal guardians” without specifying their gender.
The prospect of same-sex marriage in France has also caused some Russian lawmakers to question the future of a bilateral adoptions agreement between the two countries signed in November 2011.
