On the High Court ruling on Monday (Dec 17), which allowed a gay Singaporean doctor to adopt his biological five-year-old son born through a surrogate mother in the United States, SMU Dean of Students and Professor of Sociology Paulin Tay Straughan said the hallmark of a sound policy would be to take into consideration the welfare and well-being of vulnerable Singaporeans such as children and providing a platform for them to lead a normal life. She added that with society now at the crux of social change, the government will likely hold back to allow key stakeholders to digest the issues and continue to assess sentiments on the ground.
SMU Associate Professor of Law Tan Seow Hon commented that one issue which needs to be addressed is whether the idea of immorality of certain acts — which appears to be a possible ground of the criminalisation of male homosexual acts in Section 377A — translates to any legal effect on persons in same-sex relations who want to adopt a child.
SMU Lecturer of Law (FDS) Benjamin Joshua Ong noted that the Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) did not contend during the court proceedings that being raised by a homosexual would undermine the child’s welfare by “adversely affecting the child’s sense of identity of morality”.
SMU Associate Professor of Law Eugene Tan said the Government will likely endeavor to “disconnect” the surrogacy issue with that of same-sex rights and deal with them separately “given the overarching policy considerations of family as the bedrock of society”.