Singapore top court allows gay man to adopt biological son News
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Singapore top court allows gay man to adopt biological son

Singapore’s Supreme Court on Monday allowed a gay man to adopt his biological son.

The son was conceived through a surrogate mother and born in the US. The man paid the surrogate mother USD $200,000 to carry and deliver the baby after learning that he and his partner would not be allowed to adopt in Singapore due to their sexual orientation.

In its ruling, the court found that the child’s adoption “would be fore the welfare of the Child” as required by their adoption laws. The court also addressed the public policy considerations, establishing “a two-step analytical framework for taking public policy into account in a case such as the present.” First, the court determined whether the relevant public policies existed. Second, the court employed a balancing exercise “in which the court considers the weight to be given to the value underlying the claimed right and to the countervailing public policy consideration, and then reasons towards an outcome” with proper balance.

In the end, the court balanced “the concern to protect the welfare of the Child” with “the concern not to violate the public policy against the formation of same-sex family units.” The court reasoned that the welfare of the child “would be significantly advanced by” approving the adoption order and that this outweighed “the public policy against the formation of same-sex family units”.