Same-Sex Adoption

Same-Sex Adoption

Introduction

Gay parent adoption or same-sex adoption refers to the adoption of children by individuals who prefer romantic partners of the same sex--gays and lesbians. Same-sex adoption is portrayed by the media as being a potentially good thing but with potentially detrimental side effects, most notably for the adopted children (Gary, 2008).

In Florida, same-sex adoption has been restricted by the state government. This paper discusses the pros and cons of this law and its restriction.

Discussion

Adoption remained for a long time a rather homogeneous action, with the placement of children in the homes of middle-class, married couples. Over the course of the last three decades, adoption went through a metamorphosis, from being merely a source for married, middle-class couples to create families to being a pathway for a number of diverse and sometimes marginal populations to establish families of their own.

The average age of children awaiting placement in adoptive homes was between six and seven years of age. Many of these children who were awaiting adoption spent 38 consecutive months in foster care. Those who were adopted ranged in age from infants to teenagers and differed in race from Latino to white to African American (Judith and Timothy, 2001).

Many agencies do make placements with gay or lesbian parents, but they do not necessarily talk about these adopters. Agencies are not specifically tracking such adoptions and do not intend to track them. Consequently, the practice of adoption with many of these agencies is that they may place these children in homosexual homes but are not willing to make it public knowledge that they are doing so. The adoption of children by homosexual parents is often done so that others' knowledge of its occurrence remains minimal. The practices of adoption vary greatly from state to state and region to region and even from judge to judge. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest gay and lesbian advocacy organization, has conducted research to determine that 21 states and the District of Columbia allow gay adoption. This would not be the case if the religious right had its way. It is suggested that the ability for gay and lesbian individuals to adopt would become much more limited, with a minimal number of states being welcoming of gay adoption.

New Jersey was the first state to specify that sexual orientation and marital status could not be used against couples seeking to adopt. ...