McDermott 1 Kathryn McDermott Professor Lutz English 151 10 October 2011 Family is Family Each year in the United

States 120,000 children are adopted (AACAP), totaling in over 14 million adoptions. However, each year, there are also around 80,000 foster children that do not get adopted (Adoption Rights). If thousands of gay, lesbian, and bisexual couples want to adopt, why are there so many children left behind? What does America have against same-sex couples raising children? If a single parent is allowed to adopt, then why should gays not be blessed with the same privilege? There are so many questions regarding adoption by homosexual couples that spark my interest, so Im choosing to look further. In the United States, there is not a national law for or against adoption, it is determined by each individual state. To date, there are only three sates that have laws banning same-sex couples to adopt children, Colorado, Wisconsin, and Ohio (Becoming a Family 188). But there are different types of same-sex adoptions. Now that same-sex marriage is legal in some states, they have their own category of adoption, also secondparent adoption, when two people of the same sex are in a couple, and finally, single parent adoption, which some states ban in fear of that single parent having affection for another adult of the same sex even if not in a formal relationship. Not having a national law around the subject makes adopting and having a consistent family very difficult for homosexual couples, they may be asked to move to a state where gay adoption is legal. But why are

McDermott 2 there so many legal positions on the subject? Because there are numerous social issues that show fear in same-sex couples adopting children. One of the biggest fears is that the child will be brought up in a homophobic world (Solodnikov 46). What also ties into that is the fear that the gay-male parents will raise their child to become gay (Lobaugh 189). That is just an assumption made by society though. Gay, lesbian, and transgender parents raise their children just like any other parent would, they take care of them and do their best to make sure they succeed. It has been proven that children with homosexual parents are not more likely to become gay than children with heterosexual parents (Children with LGBT Parents). They have no extra issues with gender identity, and have no role behavior problems (LGBT Parents). So if this fear of society has been statistically disproven that makes me believe that there should be no restrictions on same-sex couples adopting children. However, that is not the only conflict that society has thought of. There are some people who say that a child is better off being raised by one mother and one father. In the United States in 2002, three out of ten children were living with a single parent (Single Parents). This brought a new question to me, how is a child being raised by one parent any different than one being raised by two of the same sex? The main reason children live with single parents is because of divorce, which is skyrocketing. So, if there are no laws against divorce or single parents, then why stop same-sex couples from adopting? This makes no sense to me and I think this fear of society has been proven to not do any harm and still shows no valid reason to ban same-sex adoption. Even though gaymale fathers are adequately prepared to raise a child, the public still finds reason to try and stop them, even if making up statistics about abuse.

McDermott 3 Some people fear that the way the children are raised is going to permanently harm their mentality, they are going to be abused and will grow up with a bad attitude. One example is that gay men should not be allowed to adopt because they are more likely to be child molesters. This is a common misconception because only about 2% of convicted child molesters identify as gay (Adoption Rights). Another case is the thought that children will grow up with a higher suicidal rate than those raised by heterosexual parents. Statistics show that suicide rates of children depend nothing on the sexuality of their parents, but rather the functionality of their family and extra stressors in their life (Lobaugh 191). There are so many fears that society has concerning this topic, but the evidence does not support it as an issue, but rather proves no points against it. At this point in research I have no oppositions to the issue. In the beginning I knew I was for adoption by same-sex couples, but I wanted the psychological research so that I could understand those against it. Yet the research I have performed has done nothing but support my opinion. So rather than looking into statistics and facts, I decided to look at experiments and real-life situations. Most experiments and current situations revolve around nature versus nurture. One point on that subject is whether homosexual people choose to be that way, or if it is biological. Many say it is a choice and that people choose to be attracted to those of their same sex. On the other hand though, many homosexual people who try to change themselves find it impossible. lalalaaaaa interview stuff I came across a journal periodical that I found interesting and relevant to my questions. What if some of the worries are not about the children, but about the adults? A cross-sectional study was performed on a number of homosexual and heterosexual couples

McDermott 4 that all had an adopted child. This experiment was performed to track relationship issues, sexual involvement, and romantic attraction throughout the different types of couples to see if it varied after adopting (Farr, Forssell, Patterson). The end results showed that all parents were satisfied on a general same level with their partner, they all were happy with their families, and felt securely attached to their spouses or partners. The only difference between gay fathers, lesbian mothers, and heterosexual parents was the rate of sexual activity, which they found unrelated to the general happiness of the couples (Farr, Forssell, Patteron 210). If everyone is happy, including the children and parents, then the idea that same-sex couple adoption should be fully legal in all states. But this raised another question dealing with the issue, what about other countries? I have focused so much on the United States but have no jumped out of boundaries to view the rest of the world. I found articles that discussed the laws of same-sex couple adoptions in countries around the world. In Sweden, same-sex couples have the same custodial rights and adoption rights as any heterosexual married couple (Comparing the Lifestyles). Along with Sweden, same-sex adoption has been legalized in Andorra, Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, and multiple parts of Canada. However, in Russia, homosexuality is majorly frowned upon and so is same-sex couple adoption (Solodnikov 40). So even around the world there are many countries that have legalized adoption by same-sex couples. I started writing this paper with the opinion that adoption by same-sex couples should be nationally legalized in the United States. I do not think that it should be given to the states to decide because I feel like it is becoming more important as a social conflict. The research I did mostly sided with my opinion and therefore I did not ever completely change my mind. There were facts that surprised me, and social opinions that shocked me,

McDermott 5 but overall my opinion remained where it started. I learned a lot more on the topic and could much better back myself up in argument that same-sex couples should legally be able to adopt throughout the United States.