Two men in Perth, Australia have become the country’s first gay couple to legally adopt a baby.

West Australian Attorney General Jim McGinty said the adoption was “groundbreaking” and stated that the utmost criterion should be the best interests of the child.

“This is the first time a mother has relinquished a baby for adoption to be taken up by people not related to her and this is the first occasion in which a gay couple have applied for and been deemed to be the most appropriate people from all available to care and love for that child,” McGinty said in a statement.

A spokesperson from the Department of Child Protection’s Accommodation and Care Services said that the biological parents were fully involved in the selection process.

Authorities did not release the age and sex of the baby. The adoption was arranged by the West Australian state government.

Not all are thrilled about gay couples adopting children though. Prime Minister John Howard has openly expressed his opposition. Last year, his government pushed through federal legislation ruling out same-sex marriages.

Lat week, Howard expressed his opposition to gay adoption and said a child should ideally have a mother and a father.

“I think it's something that most people believe is the desired, the ideal, outcome. (But) I'm not saying that gay and lesbian people don't display enormous affection to children.”