Gay Adoption: For The Greater Good

In America there are more than 500,000 children in foster homes waiting to be placed in loving homes, with more than 20,000 adopted annually. Explicitly legalizing gay parent adoption in all fifty states would substantially reduce this number, at the same time providing loving homes for those in desperate need. Opponents of placing children in same-sex households hold to the idea that the “abnormality” of gays would be pressed onto children, therefore causing them to be gay.

Having two moms or two dads has been proven not to affect the development of children. Studies have shown that children placed in the home of a gay couple are in no way affected through childhood. According to a study published in the Children and Youth Services Review, the attachment level of children placed in the home of a gay couple is related to life satisfaction as well as the relationship attained with the adoptive parents, and the number of placements prior to adoption. The level of child attachment to the parent is also a key indicator of the child’s life satisfaction. “This variable was found to have a significant relationship with parent level of relationship satisfaction with their adoptive child.”(Erich) Therefore, the argument that the child’s well-being will be in harm is unfounded.

The term “nuclear family” developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents, for the most part commonly a father and mother, and their children, from what is known as an extended family unit. The nuclear family is vanishing, and fast. The idea that placing children in same-sex coupled households would destroy the idea of this unit or the idea of the mother and father and their respective roles in society is a backwards assessment. In today’s society, roles are ever changing. Women now attend college at a higher rate than men, take on the same positions as men, as well as attaining an income extremely close if not exceeding that of men in some cases. Would these same opponents of gay adoption, be in favor of rescinding these advances? Furthermore, heterosexual single couples are allowed to adopt in many states. These people are not married and sometimes are not in a committed relationship, yet they have this right bestowed upon them. According to a Census Brief entitled, “Children with single parents-how they fare”, it was determined that children who live at home with both parents grow up with more educational and financial advantages than children raised by one parent. People are aware that the family institution is changing rapidly, and that must come with the acceptance of homosexuals as capable parents (U.S. DOC)

Here is the situation: A happily committed gay couple finally wants to cement a relationship with the addition of a new family member, yet the laws in their state may deny unmarried couples the right to adopt, or even the adoption agencies around them retain strict policies on placing children in same-sex households. “New Jersey was the first state to specify that sexual orientation and marital status cannot be used to discriminate against couples who are seeking to adopt. The state also allows second-parent adoption, a legal procedure by which a co-parent can adopt the biological or adopted child of his or her non-marital partner.” (Gay Adoption) As of 2002, 21 states as well the District of Columbia, are open to gay adoption. The Human Rights Campaign’s Deputy Director of FamilyNet, Lisa Bennett stated in reference to state attitudes toward gay adoption that, "Some have explicit, welcoming language." (Gay Adoption).

The major driving force in the opposition towards gay adoption is a widespread homophobia present in American society. Homosexuals, for the longest time, have been branded by society as deviant, immoral, sick etc. Significant legal hurdles can be faced more so by homosexual couples or individuals looking to adopt, even though same-sex couples raising adopted children are “older, more educated, and have more economic resources than other adoptive parents.” (Maxwell) Opponents claim gay adoption robs children of the chance to have a normal, healthy lifestyle. Is living in foster care until adulthood normal and healthy? Why rob children of the right to have a chance to live in a home with loving, caring, and responsible guardians, where a child will always know he/she has the stability most foster homes don’t provide. Kristen Hansen, a spokeswoman for the Christian Coalition was quoted as saying, “Every child has the right to both a mother and a father.”(Homosexual Parenting)Well, she is right, but unfortunately there are some kids in society that aren’t afforded that blessing. We can no more force divorced parents to stay together, than we can force unwed parents to marry in order to provide a “stable” home.

There is also the fear of recruiting. It is believed by some that children placed in the homes of gay couples are more likely to “develop abnormal sexual identities”(Homosexual Parenting) and become gay themselves, although there is research available that attests to homosexuality as a biological characteristic. The fact of the matter is the number of children in foster care has risen by 89% since 1982 (Johnson), and proponents of gay adoption consider it an injustice to these children to allow them to pine away in troubled foster care systems while perfectly well suited gay and lesbian couples are willing and available to raise them. Again, the stigma that exists in society towards gays and lesbians makes it more difficult than the average heterosexual couple looking to adopt.

The most compelling reason for the legalization of gay adoption in all states is the inadequacies of the failing foster care system of the United States. The cases of sexual and physical abuse towards children in foster care has been an ever present problem since the creation of the system. In Maryland, a study conducted by John Hopkins University in 1992 found that the rate of abuse in the foster care system was “four times higher than that found among the general population.” (Thomas) The failure exists nationwide. There is an apparent difficulty on the part of foster care agencies to provide the care children affected by abuse need. Instead, the solution is to replace them with the chance this may happen again.

There is also the need to take into account the very real effect foster care has on children. “Attachment refers to this relationship between 2 people and forms the basis for long-term relationships or bonds with other persons. Attachment is an active processit can be secure or insecure, maladapative or productive.” (Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care) The key idea is that “attachment is an active process”. How can attachment be developed if a child is moved from home to home? Furthermore, “Optimal child development occurs when a spectrum of needs are consistently met over an extended period.”(Committee on Early Childhood, Adoption and Dependent Care) The foster care system has not been known, even to those who haven’t experienced it firsthand, to provide the full needs of a child. As opposed to letting the child’s development be stunted, why not place them into a home where they will be cared for, and where their needs will be met?

The answer is fear. Fear that these children will be preyed upon by homosexuals. After weeks, months, and sometimes years of home visits, drug tests, prospective donors etc. to be granted the opportunity to adopt a child is long sought victory for gay and lesbian parents. Is there really a case to be made that people go through this in order to impress an orientation on a child? When people embark on the long journey that is adoption, it is only to be granted the chance to open up a home to a child who needs it. To be given the chance to experience fatherhood or motherhood because they cannot, for whatever reason, do it alone.

The problems that occur in the public foster care system are vast, but not unchangeable. With the legalization of gay adoption, as stated above, there would be a drastic cut in the amount of children waiting to be placed. Gays and lesbians want the same things out of life as everyone else, and it is truly unfair to them as well as children, to rob them of the chance of having a family.