High Court maps out gay adoption medium

The High Court of Justice issued a decision on Tuesday mapping out a middle ground on gay adoption.

On the one hand, the High Court continued a line of decisions dating back to 2014 recognizing gay adoption by Israelis of children born through surrogacy abroad. On the other hand, the justices said they would still require a court order before the adoption becomes final.

The homosexual couple whose child was born through surrogacy in the US in 2016 had asked that the court make their adoption retroactive to the date of the child’s birth.

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit objected, saying gay adoption should only be final after a court decision, which should only come after the relevant ministries weigh in to consider what it in the best interests of the particular child, as well as reviewing any disputed claims over the child.

Mandelblit’s office emphasized the need of balancing to keep pace with the world’s progressive trend on the issue with the complex policy and social considerations the issue has in Israel, where the Knesset still has not passed clear legislation to deal with it.

Justices Neal Hendel, George Kara and David Mintz voted unanimously that because the High Court has jumped ahead of the Knesset in recognizing gay adoption, it should move slower about the details of how the adoption is put into effect.

The High Court also has taken a pass on endorsing gay marriage within Israel, preferring to leave that issue to the Knesset.