A similar case occurred some seven years ago when the Catholic dioceses in England and Wales were forced to restructure or even close their adoption agencies when a new and quite unnecessary law was passed obliging all such agencies to accept gay couples as prospective adoptive parents. Because of our conviction that children are better placed in a home with a man and a woman, a father and mother, the agencies were unable to offer a service to same-sex couples. Providing an exception to allow these few small religious voluntary agencies to continue would not in any way have denied gay couples access to mainstream providers of adoption services.