BRUSSELS — A little over half of the Belgian population is opposed to giving gay couples adoption rights, but Flemish people are more inclined to support the proposal than Wallonian residents.

Conducted by French-language newspaper ‘La Libre’, the survey found 54 percent of respondents were opposed and 46 percent in favour of gay adoption rights.

In Flanders, 59 percent is in favour of the proposal, as are 61 percent of people aged 18 to 34.

A total of 71 percent of people who voted for the Dutch-language Socialist SP.A-Spirit parties think gays should be allowed to adopt children.

The survey found 71 percent of people who vote for the French-language Democrat Humanist CDH are opposed to giving adoption rights to gays.

The Belgian Parliament is currently discussing legislation aimed at giving gays the right to adopt children, but the Christian Democrat CD&V recently threw a spanner in the works and said it was no longer prepared to support the plan.

Instead, it said gays and lesbians should be given co-parenting rights, similar to what the unmarried heterosexual couples with children now have.

Gays have been allowed to marry in Belgium since 2003.
 
Meanwhile, on the question of whether the government should ban surrogacy pregnancies, 65 percent of respondents said no.

Dutch-language Liberal VLD voters appear to have the least objections to surrogacy, while 41 and 39 percent of the CDH and Dutch Christian Democrat CD&V voters were against surrogacy pregnancies.
 
A recent surrogacy scandal shocked the nation after it was revealed a woman sold her child to a Dutch couple for EUR 15,000. She’d initially promised the baby to a childless Belgian couple.

The Dutch couple later said only the medical costs were paid for and are trying to adopt the child legally.

[Copyright Expatica News 2005]

Subject: Belgian news