Research into gay discrimination in South African adoption agencies

The South African Human Rights Commission has launched an investigation into possible discrimination against homosexuals by South African adoption agencies, including Abba Adoptions, which collaborates with the Dutch adoption agency Wereldkinderen. The D66 party has since submitted parliamentary questions to State Secretary Fred Teeven of Security and Justice.

The South African Human Rights Commission has launched its investigation into adoption agencies based on complaints from potential adoptive parents and adoption agencies in South Africa, the United States, and Europe. Among these complaints are complaints from the Netherlands, as one of the agencies being investigated is Abba Adoptions, which collaborates with the Dutch adoption agency Wereldkinderen.

The international complainants allege that adoption agencies discriminate against single people, same-sex adoptive parents, and non-Christian adoptive parents in international adoptions. Two European same-sex couples have filed a complaint against Abba Adoptions, alleging that the agency excludes them based on their sexual orientation.

Abba Adoptions

Abba Adoptions requires that adoptive parents be Christian, heterosexual, and married for at least five years. Last November, the agency received notice from the Central Authority for International Adoptions of the Ministry of Social Development that its adoption policy needed to be amended because the criteria used for adoption were discriminatory. The Central Authority's guidelines prohibit discrimination based on race, gender, language, religion, disability, or financial means. These guidelines are based on South African anti-discrimination legislation and the Children's Act .

Central Authority

In its investigation, the Human Rights Commission also examined the role of the South African Department of Social Development. This department houses the Central Authority for Intercountry Adoptions, which is responsible for overseeing adoption policy and has the sole authority to authorize adoption agencies to conduct intercountry adoptions. This Central Authority is accused of granting this authority to adoption agencies while being aware of their discriminatory policies.

Parliamentary questions

D66 MPs Magda Berndsen-Jansen and Sjoerd Sjoerdsma have submitted parliamentary questions about this matter to State Secretary Fred Teeven of Security and Justice. The MPs urge Teeven to answer the questions before the parliamentary debate on adoption on October 2nd.

Former D66 MP Fatma Koser-Kaya submitted parliamentary questions in 2012 about Abba Adoptions' potential discrimination against non-Christian and gay couples. Minister of Security and Justice Ivo Opstelten announced at the time that Abba Adoptions had assured Wereldkinderen it would no longer impose discriminatory conditions on adoptions granted to Dutch adoptive parents.

[Source: TimesLive , D66 – Illustration: Abba Adoptions logo ]