Adoption rights for gay and lesbian couples and singles vary from state to state. Historically, adoption existed to provide a service to parents, but as Adoption.com points out, today's laws focus on providing the best homes possible for children. Changing guidelines for adoptions provided by the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 have led to an increased number of children in need of adoptive homes and a growing acceptance of nontraditional families, including those led by gay and lesbian parents.
Debate
Adoption offers gay and lesbian singles and couples a possible path to parenthood, but debate about the merit and outcome of gay adoption continues. Advocates point to equal outcomes among the children of both gay and straight couples, as well as gay couples' willingness to adopt children from the child welfare system. Opponents of gay adoption, such as the Family Research Council, maintain that adoptions by traditional two-parent married families are in children's best interest.
Expert Insight
The American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP, has stated that children with homosexual parents have the same advantages and take the same developmental, physical and psychological paths as children with heterosexual parents. The American Medical Association and American Psychological Association agree with these findings. The AAP is strongly supportive of co-parent adoptions by gays and lesbians and has issued a policy statement to that effect.
Geography
Many states have no laws on the books regarding gay adoptions. As of June 2010, Florida is the only state to specifically prohibit gay adoption, but Arkansas prohibits all unmarried people from adopting, reports Change.org. Both Mississippi and Utah have banned adoptions by unmarried couples. According to CNN, 11 states guarantee the right of gay and lesbian individuals and couples to foster and adopt.
Second-Parent Adoptions
Couples who opt to add biological children to their families still must rely upon adoption laws to allow for second-parent adoptions. A second-parent or co-parent adoption provides legal rights for the unrelated partner or may be used when a child is adopted in a state that does not allow joint adoption for gay couples. Co-parent adoptions protect the child's long-term security and both parents' custodial rights. The AAP states that denying second-parent adoptions prevents children from having the financial or emotional security that comes with a two-parent family.
Potential
The Every Child Deserves a Family Act, federal legislation introduced in March 2010 by U.S. Rep. Pete Stark, a California Democrat, is designed to reduce discrimination against gay and lesbian families by state-funded foster care and adoption agencies. Organizations that discriminate against well-qualified gay and lesbian applicants would not be eligible for certain Social Security Act Title IV funds. Laws restricting gay and lesbian adoptions in both Arkansas and Florida are currently subject to judicial challenges.
