Grandparents lose children to gay couple

I've been following this story, the children concerned are a boy of 5 and a girl of 4 and their mother is a heroin addict. The kids have been with their grandparents since they were babies but social workers in Edinburgh have now handed them over for adoption by two men. I don't understand why social workers would go out on a limb like this, haven't they had enough bad publicity lately? Unless there's a lot more to it than we've been told. This is the latest, a mystery benefactor is helping the grandparents.


The Mail on Sunday can reveal that a top law firm has been instructed to help the grandparents of the children, whom social workers ruled were too old, at 46 and 59, to offer a loving home.
With the support of the benefactor and the Catholic Church, the family hope the move will quickly lead to a judicial review of Edinburgh City Council’s decision to remove the four-year-old girl and her five-year-old brother from their family.
The tycoon, who has requested anonymity, was among a group of businessmen considering offering the family financial support after the adoption plans were revealed last week.
His offer has received the ‘moral backing’ of the Catholic Church, which is fundamentally opposed to gay adoptions.
Last night a spokesman for the Church said: ‘As well as the moral issue there is also a legal question, which needs to be explored. Lawyers will be taking this forward with the family.
‘Allowing two men to adopt children against the wishes of their grandparents who want to care for them is positively wicked.’
Phone call: Social worker Heather Rush allegedly told the two children's grandparents that they will have no more contact after speaking out
The development comes after the devastated grandparents, who cannot be named for legal reasons, made an official complaint to council bosses.
They have claimed they were warned they would never see the children again unless they dropped their opposition to the adoption, and again threatened with the same fate for speaking out publicly.

The family claim they have been victims of ‘bullying’ social workers and politically-correct manipulation.

The devoted couple had fought for two years for the right to care for their grandchildren, whose 26-year-old mother is a recovering heroin addict.

They agreed to an adoption only after they faced being financially crippled by legal bills and were promised continued contact with the children.
But they were devastated when they were told the children were going to be placed with a homosexual couple.

There were several heterosexual couples on the council’s books willing to offer a loving home – leading to suggestions that the council was operating a politically-correct quota system.

The move flew in the face of social-work reports that show the girl is ‘wary’ of men.
Last night the grandmother broke down in tears when told of the mystery benefactor’s desire to help block the adoption.
She said: ‘I can’t believe anyone would do that for us. We are so grateful.’
Her husband, a farm worker, added: ‘Because of the generosity of a stranger, we might have a chance to put things right, not only for our family but for others who are put in this position.’

I can't understand why social services would want to take the children away from their natural family. Normally they bend over backwards to keep families together.

This story stinks of backhanders to me, or maybe I'm just getting cynical. But why take children away from a perfectly good home if there was nothing in it for them

And telling them they can have no more contact after speaking out, is bullying pure and simple

I've also been following this story with great interest. First of all it was reported that the grandparents had bad health, grandma has diabetes and grandad angina. Both of these can be managed with medication, and regular monitoring.

The second issue seems to be the grandparent's ages, which to me is a non issue.Cherie Blair had a baby at 45.

The mother of these children is a recovering heroin addict, which suggests that perhaps one day she may be able to take care of the children herself.

Surely if the grandparents have been doing a good job caring for these children, why then cannot this situation continue?

That's why I think its a bit odd. Theres been nothing to say that the grandparents have done a bad job, or done anything wrong, so its weird that they'd be hounded by the social services like this.

It's quite frightening really, isn't it? It seems these two people were just powerless in the face of the mighty social work department.

What p****d me off was the social worker telling the grandparents they will now not be allowed to see the children because they'd gone to the press. What right has she to do that. In their situation, I too would have gone to the press and anyone else who would listen. Let's hope common sense prevails.

Hmm, common sense seems to be in short supply lately