What will be said to the children?

Past March 15 the Diocesan Commission for the pastoral care of families in Luxembourg released a document that addresses the debate that sparked off following the decision of the Chamber of Deputies to adopt a law on marriage and adoption for homosexual couples. SIR Europe hereby presents a synopsis of the document (www.cathol.lu).The core of the matter. The debate on the possibility of opening marriage and adoption to homosexual couples "focuses on the relationship between children and – same sex – parents, while the underlying question, namely, conception and procreation, is often overlooked". Parents are responsible not only of their children’s upbringing. They are foremost responsibility is to transmit "genetic heritage and identity", consisting in cultural and symbolic benchmarks "without which human existence is not possible". "Procreating is different from producing", "it’s an act that entails gender difference", "an act that entails a commitment and that cannot be reduced to a biological or technical procedure". While in the past overcoming infertility or sterility was a concern aimed at guaranteeing social order, today, in the name of the "individual right to the child", there is an attempt to solve individual problems through legislative tools, without reflecting on "significant changes implicit in the representation of parenthood and human relations at societal level".Which children? The traditional law regulating adoptions in Luxembourg distinguishes between full adoption (with the absence of reference to the family of origin) and simple adoption (a bond is preserved with the family of origin.) Accordingly, in the case of "children living with a homosexual couple that are born from a heterosexual union of one or the two partners, it is necessary to introduce in the civil code measures of protection for all these children ensuring they enjoy the same rights as all other children. These measures can be introduced in the short term, without upsetting the significance of marriage". The situation is different when children are conceived with the specific intention on the part of homosexual couples to adopt them after they have already been born, resorting to various means, even through payment. In these cases "how could adoption be a solution for these children without contradicting other legal provisions, notably the international convention of the rights of the child"? "It leads us to infer that that far from considering the needs of the child, the objective of the draft bill responds to the quest for parenthood of a community based on sexual orientation, voiced on the grounds of the non-discrimination of minority groups". Moreover, "there is no such thing as the right to having a child, a principle shared by all human communities, despite the claims of pressure groups". In order to meet the yearning for parenthood of homosexual couples, the law "questions a universal and stable concept of filiation, redefining the family in a radical way and upsetting the fundamental identity of the human person and his/her relations". "The biological data, that applies to all human beings, represents the union of male and female (an encounter of differences) who have a child". "Recognizing the right to parenthood" in whichever way this goal is met, "fails to recognize the child’s right to be the son or daughter of his/her mother and father". The eliminated "third party". In this framework generation is reduced to a biomedical technique, whereby the third party (donor of sperm, egg, or paid surrogate mothers) are wiped out from the filiation process. How could anyone imagine this to take place without leaving a trace in the mind and heart of the person who wanted the child, of the person who contributed to his/her procreation and of the child him/herself? "Without questioning the educational skills of homosexual adults", it will be necessary to ascertain in the long run the consequences on the children "especially when in turn they will raise the question of bearing a child, when they will be mothers or fathers". "What answer will be given to the children when they will raise questions on their origin?" "If the right words on the child’s genealogy, and the history of the desires that preceded his/her birth are absent", the child "may find it hard to live the experience of parenthood". To identify as ‘progressive’ the claims of homosexual couples, and brand whoever expresses reserves as homophobic or reactionary, "signals subtle semantic slips which have a consequential impact on human development and history".