Catholic mom's son fostered by homosexual couple against her wishes

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London, England, Jun 11, 2009 / 06:40 am (CNA).- A Catholic mother in Britain who is unable to care for her son has objected to him being placed in the foster care of a homosexual couple. She has expressed concern the couple could encourage him into a way of life she does not agree with, amid reports the boy is already asking about homosexuality.

The ten-year-old child was scheduled to arrive Monday at his permanent new foster home, a hotel in Brighton run by two homosexual men, the Daily Mail reports. Social workers at Brighton and Hove Council, who have full custody of the child, decided on his long-term placement last month. His mother reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after an abusive marriage and cannot care for her son.

The mother has told friends she is concerned about the environment in which her son will be placed. She has said she wants him fostered by a traditional family in line with Catholic belief.

The boy is described as “bright and lively” and attends a faith school. He is due to receive his First Communion soon. According to the Daily Mail, he loves tennis and singing and he text messages his mother some nights to tell her he has brushed his teeth and has said his prayers.

The Thomas More Legal Centre, a Catholic legal charity, was instructed last week to represent the boy’s mother.

“We are advising her on her legal options and seeking to resolve the matter with the council by agreement,” said Neil Addison, director of the center.

The mother’s parish priest and the son’s head teacher are also said to be deeply concerned, the Daily Mail reports.

“This isn’t about a gay couple in a private home, this is about a gay couple running a hotel where they also live, where they cannot restrict who the child is going to meet. That’s my anxiety,” the priest said.

A fellow parishioner of the mother described her as a “committed Catholic” and reported that her son was baptized and brought up a Catholic.

“She knows she is unwell and cannot cope with looking after him. All she wants is for him to be raised in a regular family atmosphere, by a man and a woman.

“She would prefer a Catholic couple, but if that is not possible, at least a heterosexual one. But social services have given her no choice. She cannot understand how he can be looked after by two men she’s never met.

“Her belief is that they could encourage him into a lifestyle that is against her religious beliefs,” the parishioner explained.

“The other day he asked her, ‘Mummy, are you lesbian or gay?’ She had to tell him she was neither.”

The local council reportedly has one of the highest rates of homosexual fostering and adoption in Britain. It told the mother that the homosexual men who will foster her son are experienced and fully qualified and will care for the boy well.

It did not answer questions about its choice to place the child with homosexual foster parents against the mother’s wishes. A spokesman told the Daily Mail the council would not comment on any issue relating to the welfare of a child in the council’s care.

Comments: 21

Subscriber comments:

Published by: Dan
NYC 01/20/2010 09:11 AM EST

Utterly heart-breaking, clearly the government values homosexual activism over the welfare of this child. The picture in this story makes me physically ill. How can an right-minded person not look at this situation as an abomination? Surely there were countless married couples who would loved to have taken this child in. Unfortunately the homosexuals have been very successful at eliciting support from local governments around the world in advance of their selfish lifestyles. Even in my home town the local adoption web site has a whole page devoted to encouraging "gays" to consider adoption. How many more children will be lead astray by these revolting policies? Matthew 18:6

Published by: Brendan Bradley
Ireland 06/14/2009 05:57 PM EST

It is clear from the question this child reportedly asked his mother about being gay/lesbian that he has already been successfully indoctrinated by his gay guardians to assume that everyone is either gay or lesbian. If his new home environment is as steeped in homosexual culture as some reports suggest, he will come to an acceptance of human sexuality that is highly reductive, dangerous, and impoverished. Further, it is inconceivable that no heterosexual couples were available to foster this child. It can only be concluded that the perceived needs of a gay couple and the legislative and media support they can summon in their cause trumped any real consideration for the child’s fundamental need for the love and devotion of heterosexual foster parents. Despite propaganda to the contrary there are many such couples who would be delighted to support this child and indeed his seriously ill mother, through this crisis.

Published by: Raymond
Woodbridge, VA, USA 06/12/2009 10:20 AM EST

JohnK's comment is ignorant.

Published by: M. Burns
Canada 06/12/2009 08:53 AM EST

Re: "I guess the mother should have acted in such a way that her child didn't need to be taken from her in the first place. I don't care what anyone says; she lost her right to protest."

John, you have ignored the facts: "His mother reportedly suffered a mental breakdown after an abusive marriage and cannot care for her son." I have volunteered for the Canadian Mental Health Association. Mental illness is just that, an illness, just like diabetes is an illness. Her husband choosing to abuse her is not her fault nor is the subsequent mental illness this abuse has caused.

There are many reasons why children are taken from their parent(s), not just if they have abused them in some way. Being too poor to be able to provide them with the level of care the state requires is one reason for example. The law states that parents have rights even if their child is taken into care.

Further, once a situation goes to court, the particular society is in a situation to prove, at all costs, that the parent is unfit even if the society knows that the society made a mistake, because then they are liable. This puts them in a position of being tempted to fudge their "evidence." I have witnessed it and have heard from several professional people who deal with one society in particular that this is true. This is allowed to happen partly because there is (an erroneous) belief that professionals don't lie, as if they cease to be humans with biases, etc.

Pray for this mom, don't judge her.

Published by: Patrick Finley
stlouis/missouri/usa 06/12/2009 06:32 AM EST

Preach the gospel often, if necessary use words.

This is sad indeed. Yet further indoctrination from the secularists who think they know better

Published by: Sebastian Paul
India 06/12/2009 01:53 AM EST

In this case the opinion of that catholic mother of the ten yer old boy is more valid because she still has the right to decide how her son should be brought up.

Published by: Craig B. McKee
Lakeland, FLorida USA 06/12/2009 12:47 AM EST

I think people's WARPED and GUILT-RIDDEN imaginations are running wild here and placing the boy in fantasy situations that say more about themselves (parish priest included) than about the couple in question. If the parent is mentally unstable, the boy is much better off being removed from her custody. The local council is legally liable for its placements, so I am sure they have checked this placement out thoroughly before making the recommendation.

Published by: D. Smith
No..Calif., USA 06/11/2009 07:15 PM EST

As if it were not enough that tbhis child suffered through his parents abusive and unhappy home situation, now the govt. is potentially putting him in harm's way again.

He's 10 and asking already about gays and lesbians. Where did he get that? No doubt from the environment in which social workers placed him. One might also surmise that the persuasion of some of the tenants there leave a lot to be desired as a fit environment for a Christian or Catholic or any younster.

Possessing even a small amount of sensitivity should have prevented social workers from creating this unreasonable situation .

God help these children.

Published by: BILL
MA, USA 06/11/2009 05:47 PM EST

WHY DOSEN'T THE MOTHER'S CHURCH AND MEMBERS FIND A MORE PROPER FAMILY FOR THE BOY? yOU GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS TO THE STATE AND LIVE WITH CONSEQUENCES. ALSO, CAN'T THE GOVERNMENT REQUIRE THE MEN TO RAISE THE BOY CATHOLIC?

Published by: Margaret
Baltimore MD USA 06/11/2009 04:31 PM EST

I don't like that either.This is very sad.
It is against God's will God said Adam and Eve not Adam and Steve.

Published by: Tim
Washington, DC 06/11/2009 04:30 PM EST

So let me get this straight (no pun intended!):

A heterosexual woman is recovering from an abusive heterosexual relationship with a heterosexual man, and because of this abuse at the hands of the heterosexual man, this heterosexual woman who is now no longer able to care for her child is complaining that the two people who have made themselves available to provide a loving, caring, supportive and non-abusive home for her son happen to be gay?

Did I get that right?

Despite what some who have posted here may believe, there are millions of children being raised by good, caring, loving, committed and faithful gay couples around the globe. The fact that Church leaders (with their limited understanding of human sexuality and their inconsistent teachings in the area of marriage, sex, and human intimacy) don't like this doesn't in any way diminish the thousands of good, Catholic, gay homes in which so many children are being raised.

Also, there is absolutely no evidence that children raised by gay people are any more likely to be gay than children raised by heterosexual people. God has seen fit throughout time and across cultures to create gay and lesbian people; when humans fail to recognize this and respect it, they place themselves above God and the beauty of God's creation.

Published by: crazylikeknoxes
USA 06/11/2009 02:19 PM EST

One should think twice before going to the government for charity. Could no one in her parish help her with the child?

Published by: trisha
ca. usa 06/11/2009 02:14 PM EST

Amazing how the powers that can take over...tell the mother she has the right to abort anytime, regardless of the father or family. Now they tell a mother of her biological son that she kept 'can't have that right anymore,and can throw that life away if they choose. We here in America better watch out for that same State Intrusion. Hang onto family and make provisions for your kids.

Published by: Raymond Peringer
Toronto, Canada 06/11/2009 12:59 PM EST

Biological parents should have some say on where their child is placed for adoption.

Unfortunately, English bureaucracy has become so corrupt, it uses its power for its own agenda. In this case, its anti-Catholic attitude is again evident.

Adoption should acknowledge the child's background, and decisions made accordingly.

There would be riots in the streets of London were a Muslim child adopted by homosexuals.

Published by: nan siep
FL 06/11/2009 12:35 PM EST

According to the UK article I read, the mother has been away from this child for a long time. Perhaps she should get herself together and take care of her child herself if she is so concerned. When you allow your child to go into the govt. system, you have no more control over where he goes.

Published by: Miriam
Newville/PA/USA 06/11/2009 12:06 PM EST

Rate: Excellent

Unfortunately the waters are muddied by bringing up issues like the gay couple living in a hotel with possible access of guests - strangers - to the boy, and the mother not knowing the gay couple. Those may be issues of concern, but they are beside the point: the mother is Catholic, her son is being raised Catholic, and he's been placed in a situation that is not just inconsistent with , but is diametrically opposed to orthodox Catholocism. It would be just as bad if a self-proclaimed gay middle-school child were put into foster care with a fundamentalist family (of any religion!) Considering that this agency has a high rate of gay foster care placements, the agenda (to undermine orthodox Christian doctrine regarding homosexuality) is clear...and sadly, it's probably acceptable to the community at large.

Published by: Anne
NY USA 06/11/2009 10:55 AM EST

When the great Chastisement comes one of the main reasons it will arrive is because of the CORRUPTION OF CHILDREN AND THE MURDER OF THE DEFENSELESS, INNOCENT UNBORN. I think Jesus talked about millstones being tied around the necks of those who corrupt the youth. The media will answer for their perversion of our culture. Science will be called into account for their misuse of knowledge and lies.
Woe, ten thousand times to all those responsible for the murder and the filth. May Christ protect the innocent on the day of wrath. AMEN.

Published by: dAVID LARSEN
scituate Mass. USA 06/11/2009 09:50 AM EST

If I were the child I would NOT go! Children also have rights. Especially a 10 year old.

Published by: steve mcIsaac
boston , mass. usa 06/11/2009 08:27 AM EST

This is an abomination, people need to wake up and stop being lukewarm. Are people ashamed of the gospel? Speak out against it.

Published by: John K.
NJ, USA 06/11/2009 07:27 AM EST

Rate: Regular

I guess the mother should have acted in such a way that her child didn't need to be taken from her in the first place. I don't care what anyone says; she lost her right to protest.

Published by: M. Lyons
Perth, Western Australia 06/11/2009 06:54 AM EST

Very sad news. The boy is receiving Holy Communion and goes to a faith school. Will they fully support him in his spritual life? If not, then this is not an appropriate home? Can this boy later on sue the State and the couple if things go wrong?

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