(256)  UNMARRIED COUPLE ADOPTIONS TO BE CONSIDERED

On 11 September 2003 the Scottish Executive published a discussion document on adoption and fostering which canvasses the possibility of adoption by unmarried couples, hetero- or homosexual (see  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library5/education/ccfa-00.asp).  At present only one person within such couples can become the adoptive parent of a child (see e.g. T, Petitioner 1996 SCLR 897, discussed by Margaret Ross in (1997) 1 Edinburgh Law Review 370-381).  The issue is to be studied in detail by a policy review group headed by Sheriff Principal Graham Cox.