Gay or Lesbian Parenting and the Psychological Effects on Their Adoptive Children

In conclusion, the augment for gay adoption is far stronger and far better supported than those opposed. One must admit that sexual orientation is fundamentally irrelevant to a person’s capacity to be a good parent. The opposition to gay and lesbian adoption has failed to support its

This article talks about the support of second parent adoption for gays everywhere. They support the idea that children with two capable adults no matter what gender are able and should be able to care for a child. Although they support this, the article does not show any sort of negativity toward the opposite side relating the issue. The site details the rights that the second parent should be guaranteed through an adoption. They also think that pediatricians and other professions dealing with children should get more familiar with learning about gays and the children they adopt. The authors are the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. The people in the committee have many different backgrounds and are advocates for children’s

Attention getter: Discrimination against gay men and lesbian women has been socially recognized for hundreds of years and still continues today. Homosexuals have adopted children for many years, regardless of fear and prejudice. The controversy of this matter is why homosexuals are not presented the equal fairness of the process and open opportunity as heterosexual couples who seek to adopt or foster children. There is a certain extent to which the sexual orientation of couples (or single potential parents) seeking to adopt children impede on the opportunity to provide children with a permanent and stable home.

In the United States there are 397,122 children living in the foster care system, and of those children, 101,666 are able to be adopted (Facts and Statistics). These children need stable living environments to grow up in. Without them, they are more likely to be convicted of crimes, become homeless, and abuse substances. There are options for these children that shouldn’t be pushed aside. Adoption by gay couples has been debated for decades. The issues here include: Adoption rates, compared parenting, drawbacks, and positives.

“There is no scientific basis for concluding that lesbian mothers or gay fathers are unfit parents on the basis of their sexual orientation” (Armesto, 2002; Patterson, 2000; Tasker & Golombok, 1997). Ever since gay and lesbians have been parents people have questioned how the parents’ sexual orientation impacts child and adolescent development. Opponents of same-sex parents argue that sexual orientation has a negative impact on child development, while proponents argue that the relationship between the child and parents is what matters. National, state, and local governments are faced with the controversy surrounding same-sex parenting. People have very strong opinions on both sides of the argument. Children and adolescents who are under lesbian or gay parents have normal child development compared with children under heterosexual parents. These children develop normally socially, mentally, and academically.

Since the 1990’s approximately 8-10 million children in the US alone are raised in a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) household. Same-Sex Adoption is controversial because many people throughout the world are against LGBT adoption; but when faced with the number of kids who pray everyday for someone out there wanting to be the parent of a foster child, it is difficult to understand why the topic of gay adoption is controversial. Yes, there can be a bad outcome but there can also be a very good outcome of these kinds of adoptions. The LGBT Adoption situation can be fixed by allowing any adult or parent to adopt a child if they have the right living environment or the knowledge and skills that it takes to raise a kid in the proper way. But social workers have reservations on considering gay adoptive parents because they are fearful of how the parents will treat and raise the children and how they will grow up feeling. People who oppose same sex marriage, including U.S. elected officials, have argued that a child raised by a LGBT parent will need additional emotional support or will face social challenges compared to children with heterosexual parents (Borreli). Although many people believe that LGBT parents shouldn’t be allowed to adopt because it affects the child, LGBT parents should be allowed to adopt because many kids need a place to call home or someone they can call family, they need someone in a similar situation that they can talk

One positive view of gay adoption is that it gives the gay couple the chance to start their own family and give a child in care a new start to life in a loving home. This will allow the couple to love and care for the child just as much as they would if the child was living with their own biological parents. Gay couples who want to adopt a child will give the same loving family home just like a heterosexual couple or single parent would. For some children, living with a gay couple may be something they haven’t experienced before. However finding a family who love the child and appreciate them for who they are, also encouraging them with all aspects of their life and supporting them all the way through their life is what matters most to children.

Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation, but by parents creating a loving and nurturing home. With increased inclusiveness, more children are now in homes with qualified parents over being in the state system. Adoptive parents are being discriminated on adopting children based on gender identity, sexual orientation, or marital status and so more children are “aging out” of the foster care system. Children are aging out of foster care because the federal government is not allowing parents to adopt based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or marital status and those children are going without having the loving and nurturing home that they need so the Every Child Deserves a Family Act should be put in place.

Child welfare services and the ACLU would agree that thecircumstances remain ideal for the child because having homosexual parents poses nodisadvantage to children (ACLU 2).The gay community is becoming more and more prominent in American society. Whatwas once an extremely ³closeted´ life style, is integrating itself into our everyday lives. As morerights are granted to gay and lesbian people, the more normal they are going to seem to everyoneelse. I¶m confident that my future children will grow up accepting homosexuality and that astime goes on, so will the rest of the country. So if the gay community is going to become sosignificant in our lives, shouldn¶t we grant them equal rights? If we can accept gays and lesbiansas people, partners, workers, and friends, why can¶t we accept them as good parents? When youlook at it logically, the exclusion of homosexuals as adoptive parents just doesn¶t make sense.³Love makes a family, not biology or gender,´ says gay dad Robert Calhoun about hisexperience as an adoptive father. Calhoun and his partner Clay of Avondale Estates, Georgiahave adopted two children-- four-year-old daughter Rainey and eighteen-month-old son Jimmy.Calhoun adds, ³We¶re not moms, we¶re not heterosexual, and we¶re not biological parents, [but]we¶re totally equal and just as loving as female parents, straight parents, and biological parents.´(Gandossy 1 ) The Calhouns certainly seem capable of providing just as much love and

There are currently 107,011 kids in the U.S. foster care system that are hoping and waiting to be adopted, so just imagine how many of those children could be adopted if more lesbian and gay couples were able to adopt. According to lifelong adoption agencies more and more gay and lesbian couples are becoming parents through artificial insemination, a surrogate, or LGBT adoption. It’s hard for same sex couples to adopt because adoption agencies that have religious beliefs against same sex couples reject them, or a state law prohibits same sex parents. Same sex couples face much opposition from a large number of people even though they do not have well supported arguments for their beliefs. Many studies have been done in an attempt to figure

Throughout the past few years, the subject of same-sex adoption has been caught in the crosshairs, due to the fact that it is a particularly controversial topic. Many people have the idea that a child cannot be raised properly without the traditional upbringing of both a man and a woman as parents. While the traditional form of parenthood is great, a same-sex couple can also sufficiently raise a child to become a moral, strong individual.

Gay parents are facing discrimination because of their sexual orientation. Twenty-two states currently allow single gays to adopt and 21 states currently allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt in the U.S. (Mallon, 2007, p. 6). The ability of gay couples to rear a child should not be denied only because they are gay. Homosexuals may be looked down upon by society, but they still are humans and have morals. These morals they possess, may influence a child more than those morals taught to a child with heterosexual parents. All over the world, children suffer in families consisting of alcoholics, drug abusers, and sexual abusers (Powell, 2007, p.1). It is not possible that these environments are safer than what would be provided by homosexual

Tim Pope said, "Homosexual people are unstable in their lifestyle-period. It is said that there is no real evidence supporting the fact that homosexuals are not able to provide a stable home. " I would like to conclude my speech on the general purpose. Next I would like to talk about the anti-homosexual adoption side of the debate. First I will restate the cons of the situation. The Child Welfare League of America says that every time a group was introduced to be able to adopt, there was controversy. The adoption family center says that there is no evidence to suggest that the children of lesbian and gay parents are less intelligent, suffer from more problems, are less popular, or have lower self-esteem than children of heterosexual parents. All of the research to date states that lesbians and gay men are not unfit to be parents. "A homosexual relationship implies the exercise of illegal activities, and no child should be permitted to enter that type of setting," he said. The fact of the matter is that good parenting does not dwell on the fact of sexual orientation but the fact of a loving and nurturing home. " Homosexual relationships are said to last a shorter amount of time than heterosexual relationships. It is said

One of the most important thing for children is to have a loving and supporting home. Having a loving and supportive home can come from same-sex couple or heterosexual couples. According to the article Overview of gay and lesbian parenting, adoption and foster care by American Civil Liberties “Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation. Rather, it is influenced most profoundly by a parent's ability to create a loving and nurturing home -- an ability that does not depend on whether a parent is gay or straight.” This just shows how important it is for kids to

Lesbian and gay adoption has been widely controversial across the globe. This social issue is tremendously discussed by religious, political and social groups which have been providing numerous statistics, figures and major researches on the effects of same sex couples to the mental and emotional growth of children. At the inception of the 21st century, many countries have shifted and adjusted to different kind of perspective. Many government leaders have actually allowed same sex marriages as well gay and lesbian adoption.