Gay Adoption
Family is not determined by blood relations, legal documents, or a last name. The traditional definition of family is one man and one woman raising their children together. The key word is traditionally; America is so caught up in traditions. Traditionally, it would be ridiculous to think that a child could be raised in a gay household. But it is becoming more acceptable in our society to embrace different ideas of what a family should be, such as the acceptance of gay adoption. Gay adoption should be allowed because there are far too many children without loving homes, because it is prejudice to deny homosexuals the right to adopt based on sexuality, and because it is narrow-minded to assume that heterosexuals make better parents than homosexuals do.
In the United States alone, the number of children forced into the foster care system is unimaginable. According to the most current Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System Report there were about 423,773 children in foster care in the United States on September 30, 2009 ("The afars report," 2010). Each foster child in the system should have a chance at adoption. To deny homosexuals the right to adopt is heartbreaking for both the child and the potential gay parent or couple. Gay parents are already serving as foster parents towards children; adoption is simply confirming the legal rights of the gay couple. The sexual orientation of a potential parent looking to adopt should not matter; the child should be placed into a home if it is in the best interest of the child.
The number of children in foster care is high, but it can be significantly decreased if we allow children to be adopted by homosexuals. However, there are still negative attitudes towards gay and lesbian adoption, making the process of adoption harder for homosexuals. A study interviewing 776 adoptive parents showed the differences in attitudes between married fathers, married mothers, and single mothers. The factors determining negative judgment of gay adoption varied depending on each group but the common views were affected by religious background, conservative political ideology, and a lower level of education (Averett, Strong-Blakeney, Nalavany, & Ryan, 2011). Individuals are allowing their personal beliefs and upbringing to affect the issue of gay adoption when it should not be affected. If a homosexual can give a child love and nurturing in the same way a heterosexual can, the allowance of gay adoption should not even be in question.
Steven Lofton and Douglas Houghton are not viewed as suitable adoptive parents for children they have been raising for several years. Judge King of Florida acknowledged "the existence of strong emotional bonds between plaintiffs" in his ruling, he wrote that the state's ban on gay adoption is in the best interest of Florida's children ("Gay adoption," 2002). Florida is one of the states who still holds a ban on gay adoption. Researchers Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz of the University of Southern California found that "the authors of all 21 studies almost uniformly claim to find no differences in measures of parenting or child outcomes” ("Gay adoption," 2002). So why are gays and lesbians still facing such intolerance in America? The answer lies in the beliefs held by anti-supporters of gay adoption.
Supporters against gay adoption fear that homosexuals are not capable of raising children in the same way that heterosexuals are. This fear should not exist because evidence proves that children are just as happy and healthy when adopted by gays and lesbians. Researchers Stacey and Biblarz determined that “the children of homosexual parents show no difference in levels of self-esteem, anxiety, depression, behavior problems, or social performance, but do show a higher level of affection, responsiveness, and concern for younger children and "seem to exhibit impressive psychological strength" ("Gay adoption," 2002).
Some opponents may also feel that “Bringing a heterosexual child up in a gay household gives them a distorted view of minority sexuality, just as a girl brought up by two men would fail to benefit from a feminine influence” ( Jones, 2009). What evidence is there to support this assumption? There may be positive feminine or masculine influences in a child’s life not necessarily directly in the home. Also, children who have grown up in a single parent household have not been proven to have a distorted view of the opposite gender. "Studies have found children do not require both a male and female parent," testified Michael Lamb, who heads Cambridge's Department of Social and Developmental Psychology ("Children thrive equally," 2010). Lamb goes on to share that the adjustment for children being adopted is mainly influenced by the relationships between the parents and the child.
Having researched the facts regarding gay adoption, my stance has not changed. Many supporting statistics have strengthened my opinion that gay adoption is a positive solution to the number of children that go each year without a loving home and family. I would not reconsider changing my position because I feel very strongly about the equality that gay and lesbians should receive when looking to adopt a child. I feel the next step is to continue creating awareness of the discrimination homosexuals face. The traditional idea of family is expanding and we should embrace this by allowing gays and lesbians to adopt children in need of a loving family and home.