Johannesburg Child Welfare has permitted a gay couple to adopt a child — a first in South Africa, writes Gavin Duvenhage
The first ever officially approved gay adoption took place in Johannesburg last month when a lesbian couple received a newborn baby from Johannesburg Child Welfare.
Johannesburg Child Welfare, who managed the adoption, confirmed that it was the first such case in South Africa. The child was handed to the couple, whose identity was kept secret.
The adoption was a major departure from the past. Previously, gay couples could act as foster parents in limited circumstances but were banned from adopting children of their own.
Johannesburg Child Welfare spokesman Marionka Manias told the M&G that the adoption was based on sound family values. The couple’s request for a child had been granted as they fulfilled the same qualities heterosexual couples were expected to meet.
“We go along with the policy that anyone can apply to adopt a child,” Manias said. “This does of course not mean everyone will meet the requirements, even if they are a conventional couple.”
Prospective parents must have the energy and time to care for a child. They must be available, and of course, have sound health, she said.
“We have to make sure applicants really want children because they cannot conceive, and don’t simply want children because they want to look like everybody else,” Manias said.
She pointed out that even married couples could not provide a guarantee that they would never get divorced or suffer a drastic change in their lives such as a major illness. It therefore was not possible to justify the exclusion of gay people from raising a family of their own.
Constitutionally, Child Welfare felt it was obliged to consider gay people. As the Constitution outlaws discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, to prevent a gay couple from adopting a child because they were gay would probably be illegal.
A chronic oversupply of babies also made the decision easier. Child Welfare has up to 40 babies awaiting placement at any one time. Some babies are difficult to place because of birth defects or were born to parents with HIV.
Most, however, face a long wait for parents that may never come. Although white babies were adopted at birth — a long waiting list ensured they would have a home before they left the womb — black babies were not as
If parents were willing to adopt black babies they stood a much greater chance of being approved. Manias said parents’ wishes to adopt a baby the same colour as themselves was respected, but with a long waiting list, criteria for selection were tougher.
“A two-parent male and female family is a much better role model for a child. Ideally, we would want to place babies with families broadly reflective of society. This does not mean we will prevent other people from adopting a child,” Manias said. Gay men may find it harder to adopt a child than lesbian women. Manias said their applications would be considered “for what they are worth” but suggested they were unlikely to succeed.
“A man may not find it as easy to cope with a newborn child as a woman,” she said.
While single women were also eligible to adopt a child, a single man had virtually no chance.