Colombia’s Constitutional Court upheld the right of adoption by same-sex couples on Wednesday via Twitter, but only if the child in question has biological ties to one of the partners. The narrow 5-4 ruling excludes gay adoption in other circumstances. “Adoption will only be allowed when it deals with the biological child of the same sex partner,” read the decision.
Wednesday’s decision comes after a historic 6-3 ruling in August 2014 that allowed an adoption request from a same-sex couple for the first time. The Court found that sexual orientation cannot be a discriminating factor in second-adoption cases, and overruled Colombia’s Family Welfare bureau, which had denied a woman’s petition to adopt her partner’s biological daughter—who was conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF).
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups expressed disappointment, saying the Court did not go far enough and promoting the hashtag #SiALaAdopcionIgualitaria (yes to equal adoption). Wednesday’s ruling is the latest in a string of favorable precedents set by the Court. Colombia’s highest court has been slowly expanding gay rights—recognizing de facto unions for gay couples and granting them joint health insurance coverage in 2007; shared pension rights in 2008; and inheritance rights in 2009.
Same-sex marriage and adoption rights have so far been recognized in Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and some states in Mexico.
