Pros And Cons Of Same-Sex Adoption In The United States

In “Laws Should Support Loving Households, Straight or Not” (2002), Becky Birtha argues that homosexual couples should have the same right to adopting kids as heterosexual couples.

Should gays and lesbians have the same rights to adopt as heterosexuals? The laws of most states permit an unmarried person to be an adopted parent. However, many states have enacted laws limiting and in some cases prohibiting, lesbian and gay men from adopting. Adoption of children by lesbian and gay men remains controversial. A court must first find that the best interest of the child will be served by the adoption. Some courts have strongly rejected the notion that adoption by a lesbian or gay parent could ever be in the best interest of a child. This applies to same sex unions as well. Yet the United States has many children waiting to be adopted. Older children and those with special needs are the hardest to

Unfortunately, there is a number of legal hurdles gay and lesbian couples face when trying to adopt therefore, the system has to be circumvented. Also same sex couples encounter individuals who subconsciously and consciously discriminate through a variety of behaviors including evident harassment or social exclusion (Brown, Smalling, Groza, & Ryan, 2009). It would seem as if the drive to prevent same sex couples from the benefit of joint adoption starts with the discrimination of these couples rather than the welfare of the child (Johnson, n.d). In fact, these discriminations include accusations of psychological disorders and a higher occurrence of domestic violence.

The number of children being adopted by same-sex parents has almost tripled in the past decade. However, to this day, some states still ban gay adoption completely while other states use

Interestingly, a recent case has further infringed upon the ability of gay partners to adopt a child in their marriage, thus highlighting the precarious legal status of a gay parent. In the case of Amalia C. and Melissa M., “Brooklyn Surrogate’s Court judge, Margarita López Torres, ruled on Jan. 6 that because New York State had enacted same-sex marriage in 2011 and allowed both women to be listed on the boy’s birth certificate, Amalia was already the child’s parent and could not adopt him.” (McKinley) This ruling has been troubling to gay rights advocates “because the presumption of parentage may not be respected if they leave the state,” according to Susan Sommer, a lawyer with the Lambda Legal Defense Fund (McKinley). Judge Torres, however, has stated openly that her reason for the ruling was because it places gay marriage on a separate footing from traditional marriage and while she is sensitive to the needs of those whose marriages may not be recognized in another state, she must abide by the laws of New York, which do not allow a heterosexual spouse to adopt a stepchild (McKinley).

Gay adoption is a subject which is widely debated. However over recent years gay adoption has allowed for most gay couples who want to adopt young children and give them a good quality of life, which they would have if they lived with their biological parents or a heterosexual couple, to do so.

The simple definition of adoption from a book by the British Association for Adoption & Fostering, “Adoption means belonging to and growing up with a new family when you cannot live with the family you were born into.”.( Shah 6) Adoption is being brought into another family when an individual’s birth parents does not want or cannot raise a child due to any reason. It was not their choice to be given up for adoption. Those kids are looking for good and new families to raise them and “An estimated two million LGBT people are interested in adopting.”. (Adoption Statistics 1) The estimate of two million people who are part of the community who want to adopt is a very large number. Many kids are looking for homes and those people who are interested in adoption should provide homes for those children without question. According to an organization called Lifelong Adoptions who are registered with the Registry of California Adoption Facilitators that linked to an equality maps, “Same-sex couples in all states can petition for joint adoption statewide.” (LGBT 1) which means it is legal to petition yet what goes on in the adoption hearing tends to prevent those couples from becoming parents. Hearings tend to bend or exaggerate the opposite side where the birth parents, the more

There are an estimated 500,000 children in foster care nationwide, and 100,000 of these children are awaiting adoption. In 2013, only one child of every six available for adoption was actually adopted. (Sanchez, 13) These statistics show how important it is for children to be adopted to a loving family no matter what the sexual preference of the parents is. However, it has become an issue and/or an obstacle for same sex partners to adopt in many states. This has been a controversial topic that while some believe that homosexuals should have the right to adopt like any other married couple or single person while others believe it should be banned. Homosexuality is being more accepted and integrated into today’s society but seems to be an issue

Gay marriage has in recent times seen a growing number of supporters. With this comes parenting and the urge to start a family but, as everyone knows a gay couple cannot get a biological child from both of the parents. This complication leads to many couples turning to adoption as a solution. Gays like everyone else are just as capable of taking care of a child if not more.

Marriage between a man and a woman has been accepted as the long-established, conventional way of raising a family for thousands of years. Now it is not only legal for gay couples to get married but also for them to adopt children of their own. To take such a long-standing practice and suddenly add major extensions to previous rules, it is no wonder that many people are wary about the subject. It is understandable that these new laws will not be accepted by everyone, especially by those who have lived with the normality of “regular marriage” their entire life.

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. This type of adoption is often made to look as if it might well be done but perhaps should not be for the sake of the children involved. With groups such as the religious right, fundamentalist Christian denominations, and private religiously affiliated adoption agencies backing the opposition to adoption by gays and lesbians and, on the other side, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, and various LGBT (lesbian gay bisexual transgender)-friendly groups making up the proponents, the battle over same- sex adoption is well defined and entrenched in a deep and long-standing debate. That battle begins with the media and its portrayal of gay parent adoptions as against the agencies and advocacy groups and their perspectives on placing children in the homes and care of homosexual individuals.

her “best interest” (Baumle & Compton, 2010). As the years have progressed our laws have

Homosexual people have faced many trials and tribulations in pursuit of living a normal and happy life. There are many controversial events and topics that are barriers blocking complete happiness. Although those barriers are in place, the people in the LGBT subculture seem to making the best of every situation. Fighting for their rights and changing laws to protect them are paving the way for a brighter future. In hopes of being normal, many same-sex couples want to have a family and for some the only option is adoption. Well, same-sex adoption is not legal in most places which makes this dream for some impossible. This caused controversy between same-sex couples and the general public who believes that same-sex adoption should remain

“State policies banning gay men and lesbians from fostering or adopting children hurt everyone involved” (Hunt and Krehely). Banning same sex couples from adopting is taking away that child’s chance at being able to be in a loving, stable environment and this could dramatically affect the outcome of their lives. There are many positive advantages that the child can get if they were adopted by a lesbian or gay couple.

“About 19 percent of same-sex couples raising children reported having an adopted child in the house in 2009, up from just 8 percent in 2000.” As society changes there opinions on same-sex marriage they more gays and lesbians are adopting. There was recent rise in same-sex adoption but there is still people in U.S. that are against same-sex adoption. Recently a judge in Kentucky objected gay and lesbian adoption. This caused a huge uproar and had people thinking whether or not gay and lesbian adoption is okay for the children. One article feels that state legislators are putting more hurdles in the way of adoption and preventing children from getting into loving and caring homes (“Adoptions are declining,”2017). Gays and lesbians being able to adopt will provide loving homes, get kids out of foster care, and they choose to be parents.