The French Senate has finally approved a bill on the legalization of same-sex marriage and the right of homosexual couples to adopt children, France 24 reports. Earlier this week, the Senate approved part of the articles of the document, and on Friday, April 12, voted to grant same-sex spouses the right to adopt children.

The document will now be returned to the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, for a final, second reading in May. The National Assembly already adopted the document in the first reading on February 2, after which it was submitted for discussion to the Senate. Now the lower house of parliament will have to discuss only those articles to which changes have been made.

If the bill is approved again, it will go to President Francois Hollande, who promised to legalize same-sex marriage during the election campaign, for signature. The law will come into force after it is published in the Journal officiel, the official publication of France. It is expected that the first homosexual couples will be able to register their marriage in the summer of 2013, writes Liberation.

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The opposition has already announced its intention to appeal the law to the Constitutional Court if it is finally adopted, writes Le Point. According to social polls, 60 percent of the country's population supports the legalization of homosexual marriage. During the public debate, thousands of people demonstrated in support of and against the law.

At the moment, same-sex marriage is legalized in 12 countries. According to the human rights organization Human Rights Watch, the first such law was adopted in 2001 in the Netherlands. Following this, Belgium, Canada, South Africa, Argentina, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Iceland legalized same-sex marriage. On April 10, 2013, Uruguay joined these countries .

The French Senate allows same-sex couples to adopt children