Same-sex adoption rare but it happens

AN UNHOLY row has broken out in Britain. Catholic agencies won’t accept same-sex couples as adoptive parents, despite being required to do so under new anti-discrimination legislation.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor wants the British government to grant Catholic groups an exemption and, unless one is obtained, the Church agencies will close.

Adoption features in all cultures and is part of human biology. Other creatures, however, rarely indulge in the practice. Nor, despite claims to the contrary, is homosexuality common in the animal kingdom and so the possibility a same-sex animal couple will care for the young of another is remote.