Dutch lesbian couple in hiding as foster son’s Turkish parents escalate complaints

A lesbian couple in the Netherlands has gone into hiding with their 9-year-old foster son after the boy’s biological parents, who are Turkish, went on Turkish television to plead for his return, the Associated Press reported.

The biological parents said the two foster mothers are morally unfit to take care of their child, according to the AP.

Dutch social workers removed the boy, Yunus, from his biological parents’ care when he was just a baby, the AP reported. His biological parents lived in the Netherlands at the time, but fled to Turkey to avoid their other two children being fostered by the same lesbian couple, Dutch News reported.

It is not known why Dutch officials considered Yunus to be in danger when he lived with his biological parents, Dutch News reported.

A Dutch official told the Volkskrant that the two foster mothers had done a great job raising Yunus, according to Dutch News. “They have explored his ethnic background, visited Turkey and are learning Turkish,” the official said. “But this witch hunt means they are continually being questioned, at school, in the street, in the bakers.”

Yunus’ biological mother has requested help from Turkey's prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Dutch News reported. Erdogan is due to visit the Netherlands next week, causing speculation that he could raise the issue of Muslim children being fostered by gay couples in the Netherlands.

The Dutch vice prime minister, Lodewijk Asscher, said today that political interference from Turkey would be "inappropriate,” the AP reported.

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