ZAGREB, November 20, 2018 – The civil society association called “Rainbow Families”, which brings together LGBTIQ activists, called on Tuesday on members of the Croatian parliament to amend the final foster care bill so as to enable same-sex couples to be eligible to provide LGBT foster parenting to children without adequate parental care.
Such definition of foster carers will put Croatia in the group of developed European countries such as Germany, Spain or Ireland that treat equally all its citizens regardless of their sexual orientation, the NGO said.
On 31 October, the government sent to parliament a final bill on foster parenting, and the wording of the proposed legislation prompted the NGO to ask for enabling partners in civil partnership concluded under the life partnership legislation, to be foster carers.
The NGO says that “long-standing and extensive research has proved that there is no difference in the development of children brought up by heterosexual or same-sex couples, and therefore there are no scientific grounds to restrict same-sex couples’ right to access to professional evaluation if they are fit to foster children.”
The NGO finds it humiliating that the legislation enables individuals to have access to the procedure in which they can be declared fit to be foster carers, however, partners from civil partnerships seem not welcome.
The NGO says that on 6 July, the parliament refused to endorse a conclusion which would have called on the government to prepare a solution whereby partners in civil partnerships would not be discriminated against when submitting requests for foster parenting.
The NGO also points out statistical figures indicating that foster carers in Croatia are older and older.
It once again underscores that figures from the USA show that same-sex couples in that country foster children six times more than heterosexual couples, and thus present an important resource in the USA for providing care for children without appropriate care from their parents.
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