Mr Lykken has played into the critics' hands by arguing that women should be licensed to have children and that children produced by unlicensed breeders should be compulsorily adopted.

ECONOMIST: WHAT WE LEARN FROM TWINS: The mirror of your soul | The

The time it takes for the family courts to make decisions about whether children should be taken in to care or adopted has been cut.

BBC: Family court 'delays' on care decisions cut

"I want to make sure that speed is the key factor in trying to get children adopted and we should not let issues like trying to find the perfect ethnic match be a factor, " he said.

BBC: Adoption: David Cameron vows to cut adoption delays