I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Hood. It is a delight to see you.

In a spirit of co-operation, I should say that the Government have some sympathy with the spirit of the amendments. There is obviously concern on both sides of the Committee.

The clause will determine the status of an adopted child, so that it is clear how he will be treated in law. That is consistent with the general principle of chapter 4, which is that a child ceases in law to be a member of his birth family and becomes a member of his adoptive family on the making of an adoption order. When a married couple adopts a child, he is to be treated in legal terms as though he had been born as a child of the marriage of that couple. When a child is adopted by a step-parent, he is to be treated in law as though he had been born as a child of the marriage of the step-parent and the parent to whom that person is married.

The hon. Member for North-West Norfolk asked about single people. When a child is adopted by a single person, he is to be treated in law as though he had been born to that person in marriage, but not as the child of any actual marriage of the adopter. The provisions of chapter 4 provide for how an adopted child is to be treated in law for purposes of inheritance, pensions and insurance. They do not touch on the biological or emotional ties of an adopted child—nor are they intended to do so.

Adopted children have always been regarded as legitimate. The declaration in section 39 of the Adoption Act 1976 that an adopted child is not illegitimate will not be re-enacted by the clause. The relevant provision of the clause is drafted to ensure that an adopted child is not treated in law as illegitimate. It is therefore implicit from the other provisions of the clause that that is the case.