An application for adoption made by the natural parents who wanted to adopt their own three illegitimate children, was declined by Tonga's Chief Justice in an unusual case.

The names of the family were suppressed in the Family Jurisdiction of the Nuku'alofa Supreme Court.

In a ruling made on 5 February Lord Chief Justice Paulsen said the only reason advanced in support of the granting of Letters of Adoption in this case was that the applicants wanted to remove the illegitimate status of the children from their birth certificates.

The three children, born in 2002, 2003 and 2006, are now in their teens.

“The application was unusual because the applicants are the natural parents of the children. The children were all born whilst the applicants were living together as man and wife but unmarried. They are therefore illegitimate children of the applicants. The applicants married in 2015 shortly after the male applicant divorced his previous wife. The applicants' marriage does not however serve to legitimate their children because of the effect of s. 3(2) of the Legitimacy Act,” stated the ruling.

The Chief Justice said he had not been referred to any case where the Court has granted Letters of Adoption to both natural parents of a child and he had not come across such a case in his research.

“In a number of cases I have emphasised that adoption generally involves the total substitution of new parents for existing parents, the fundamental purpose of which is to provide a child, who cannot or will not be provided by his or her own parents, with a permanent and secure family life

“I do not consider that it is proper for the Court to legally sever or distort existing family relationships other than in pursuit of a genuine parenting purpose.”

The ruling stated that in so far as the intention in this case was simply to remove (for whatever reason) the statement on the children's birth certificates that they are illegitimate children, the perceived advantage was more imagined than real. 

“If the Court were to grant Letters of Adoption new birth certificates will be issued for each child in a form that makes it plain that the registration was made following the grant of Letters of Adoption and that the subject child was therefore necessarily born illegitimate.”

He stated that the application was not consistent with the purposes for which the power to grant Letters of Adoption is conferred upon the Court. “In addition the granting of Letters of Adoption would not, on what is before me, confer any benefits upon the children and cannot be said to be in their best interests.”

Result

The application for Letters of Adoption in respect of the three children was refused.

Mrs F. Vaihu was counsel for the applicants.