Stock photo of gay dads. (Photo:Creative Commons)

The “shocked” foster couple say the children “need a mother and father”.

A Christian couple are trying to block the adoption of their foster children by same-sex parents, after they were deemed unfit to adopt the children themselves.

The pair have been caring for the children since earlier this year, but were told they would not be able to adopt the children due to their negative viewpoint towards the LGBT community.

After they were informed the children would be adopted by a gay couple, the foster father asked: “Are you joking?”

He also told the Sunday Times that he would find it “hard to accept” if one of the children came out as gay.

Two days after after being told the news, the husband and wife formally applied to adopt the children themselves, but were rejected due their “discriminatory” stance.

The pair are now attempting to veto the council’s decision with the aid of the anti-gay Christian Legal Centre (CLC) – who argue that it is the foster couple being discriminated against due to their religious beliefs.

The CLC’s staunchly homophobic leader Andrea Williams said the parents were “shocked and bewildered” by the council’s decision.

“We have here a couple who are very successful at fostering these pre-school age children who are thriving in their care,” Mrs Williams told The Independent.

“Suddenly to be told they would be placed in a same-sex household, this really came out of the blue to them.

“To be told that there viewpoint was discriminatory, that their fitness to adopt was coming into question, and told the children would be removed, was very difficult for them.

“They believe that the children, who have had a very difficult start in life, need a mother and father,” she added.

“They shouldn’t be inhibited for making that opinion because that is freedom of expression.”

Williams is also the chief executive of Christian Concern – a notoriously anti-LGBT collective which recently called for the progress on LGBT rights to be rolled back following Brexit.

She has also urged the Church to expel all gay priests and said it should force homosexuals to ‘repent’ their sexuality.