Vegetarian couple have adoption bid refused
A vegetarian couple from the Cretan port of Iraklio have had their application to adopt a child refused because regional social welfare services expressed concerns about the impact of their diet on the child?s health.
A letter from the social services department, sent to the couple last month and seen by Kathimerini, said, ?A social study carried out into your family?s living conditions and way of life established that you follow a different diet.?
The letter added that the social services had sought the advice of a doctor at the University of Crete?s Medical School who had opined that the child?s diet should include seafood though not necessarily meat.
Speaking to Agence France-Presse on Thursday, Antonis Kafatos, the pediatrician consulted by social services qualified his statement. ?A child needs to eat fish, seafood and dairy products…But if the family has no intention of imposing its dietary habits on the child, I don?t see where the problem is,? Kafatos told AFP.
Giorgos Kokosalis, the lawyer representing the couple, who are both aged 40, described the authorities? decision as ?unacceptable and anachronistic.?
