European Court of Human Rights” “

“The decision taken is justified in the higher interest of the child, to which all the legislation applied to the field of adoption is subordinated”. With this motivation the European Court of Human Rights rejected the appeal made by a Frenchman, a self-declared homosexual, to whom the national courts has denied the possibility of adopting a child (Fretté contra France, appeal no. 36515/97, sentence of 26/2/2002). Philippe Fretté – that’s the name of the man who appealed to the Court – had complained of an “arbitrary interference in his private and family life” and had argued that the denial of the French courts was based “exclusively on a negative and prejudiced attitude to his sexual orientation”. The Court carefully examined the question, starting out from France’s domestic law which permits adoption to unmarried persons. And it admitted that the declared homosexuality of the appellant had “a decisive character”. But even if this were the case – the Court pointed out – there would still be no discrimination given that the sole factor taken into consideration is the interest of the child to be adopted”. The sentence of the Court in Strasbourg goes further and brings to the attention of public opinion “the uncertainties that weigh on the development of a child brought up by a homosexual person and deprived of the twofold maternal and paternal reference”. Although more detailed studies are lacking on the question, “we cannot fail to observe – so the judges write in their ruling – that the scientific community, and more particularly the experts on childhood, the psychiatrists and psychologists, are divided on the consequences that might be caused by the adoption of a child by one or two homosexual parents”. To this observation should be added the deep divergences of public opinion on the matter”. The appeal of Monsieur Fretté meets an insuperable barrier in the “interest of the child”, “in spite of the fact – as the judges in Strasbourg acknowledge – that his aspirations are legitimate, and without any doubt being cast on his personal choice”.