Catholic World News News Feature
Netherlands passes gay adoption bill June 29, 2005
The Dutch cabinet has passed a law relaxing rules prohibiting same-sex couples from adopting children from abroad, as well as waiving the mandatory three-year waiting period for a lesbian partner to adopt a child born to her same-sex partner.
The Netherlands legalized adoption by same-sex couples when it became the world's first country to make same-sex "marriage" legal in 2000.
According to an Associated Press report, Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner "reluctantly" approved a change to the law, "arguing that no country will allow a gay Dutch couple to adopt a child anyhow."
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