Adoption by unmarried couples recommended

Press, 19 February 1987, Page 7

Adoption by unmarried couples recommended

PA Wellington Unmarried couples should not be forbidden from adopting children, according to an interdepartmental review of the Adoption Act, 1955. Adoption by unmarried couples is not permitted in New Zealand. The review, conducted by Justice and Social Welfare Department officials, also suggests people wanting to adopt should be at least 23 but there should be no other limit on age. Other recommendations include lowering the maximum age at which a child can be adopted from 19 to 15 — unless the child is intellectually handicapped or "has a very deep wish to be adopted in order to feel part of the family.” The working party said that legislation should require the consent of children between 12 and 15 to their adoption. Discussing unmarried couples, the working party y report said the* should

be flexibility in finding and selecting adoptive parents.

“Further, it is already possible under existing law for an unmarried couple to share the guardianship and custody of a child,” the report says. The working party also suggested no change be made to the present prohibition on allowing consent for adoption to be given before a child’s birth.

Sexual intercourse between adoptive relatives should also be included within the scope of incest, it said.

While saying that adoption by a parent or stepparent should be prohibited as a general rule, natural parents should not be excluded where they had never taken part in the child’s life. The other exception was when the child was old enough to be involved in the adoption decision and had a very deep wish to be adopted in order to feel part of the

The Minister of Justice, Mr Palmer, said public comment was being sought on the working party’s proposals before the end of May. “Given that adoption deeply concerns many members of our society, probably more than is commonly recognised, it is vital that this important area of social law meets the needs of all those concerned, directly or indirectly, in the adoption process,” he said.

Mr Palmer said he was particularly interested in the views of the Maori community. However, the Government would take no policy decisions on possible changes until an extensive public consultation had taken place and he emphasised that proposals in the discussion paper did not represent Government policy.

“Rather they are a set of pointers to possible approaches to changes that could be made,” he said.