GAY ADOPTION

Gay Adoption

Governer State University

Gay Adoption

Introduction

Few in the United States have not been touched by adoption—either as members of the adoption triad (biological parents, adoptive parents, and adopted persons) or being related to or having (had) an association with adoption involving others. Adoption is the legal and permanent placement of a child with an adult who is not the child's biological parent. Once an adoption is legally finalized, adopted children have all the rights accruing to biological children, including the right to inherit. There is no one description that can characterize adoption. Adoption is no longer limited to a married couple adopting a same-race infant whereby confidentiality between birth and adoptive families is paramount. Adoptive families reflect the diversity of family forms found in society. There are also a small but growing number of adoptions by gay and lesbian couples. Controversy surrounds this practice, with some states banning gay and lesbian adoption, whereas the Child Welfare League of America asserts that gay and lesbian couples should be assessed the same as any other adoptive applicant. Adoption is a complex family form that touches the lives of many. This paper discusses Gay Adoption.

Discussion

Some people see the adoption of children by gay men or lesbians as a threat to the social fabric of society, whereas others view it as an appropriate placement resource for children awaiting an adoptive family. With more than 500,000 children in the nation's foster care system and 100,000 of them needing adoptive homes, the need for such homes has never been greater. As a result, this debate, which centers on the appropriateness of allowing children to be raised by gay men or lesbians, has received great attention in recent years, although it has been at the forefront of the cultural divide for several decades. (Human Rights Campaign Foundation 2002)

Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Parents

According to the 2000 U.S. Census, many thousands of same-sex couples live with adopted children. However, because data on gay or lesbian single persons who are also parenting adopted children were not also collected, this number is thought to be significantly under-reported, especially when one realizes that most states allowing gay or lesbian persons to adopt only allow single persons to do so. Parental sexual orientation is not systematically collected in the adoption process. As a result, although the actual number of new adoptions of children by gay or lesbian adoptive parents is unknown, best estimates place it at more than several hundred each year from international or domestic, private or public adoption sources.

Many who oppose adoptions by gay or lesbian persons argue that such adoptions are ill-advised at best and destructive at worst. They hold that adoption by gay and lesbian persons holds substantial risks for children. Little research purports to demonstrate these risks, and scholars widely condemn those few as misinterpreting and misrepresenting sociological research. Nonetheless, these studies have been the basis for many debunked myths about gay and lesbian parenting, including, for example, that children of gay parents are at risk for confusion ...