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Discrimination against same sex couples adopting
Perceived benefits of adoption
Adoption of children by gay couples
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Recommended: Discrimination against same sex couples adopting
Former President of the United States John Fitzgerald Kennedy said it best when he proclaimed "Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." Although helping children become the best they can be is a universal platform endorsed by most, if not all, legislation passed by state governments in the last hundred years seems to sing to a different tune. According to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, as of 2007 there were “approximately 130,000 in the child welfare system waiting to be adopted.”(Averett) Adoption is widely viewed as the most positive service available to children in the child welfare arena. According to Wulczyn and Hislop, researchers at Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, the benefits of adoption are high including greater levels of emotional security, sense of belonging, and emotional well-being (Hansen). With many agreed upon advantages of adoption over-long term stints in foster care, children’s homes, and temporary care facilities it would be logical to believe that federal and state governments would favor most legislation promoting responsible adoption. This is true in part; and is realized through incentives given by the national government to states and adopting families. This has consequently doubled adoptions since the 90’s (Hansen) Flawed though is that both state and federal legislation are neglecting a huge untapped population willing to attempt to adopt. Approximately half of gay men and 41% of lesbian women want to have a child (Gates). There are an estimated 10,456,405 homosexuals residing in the United States (Advert.org). We can then assume that there are nearly 5 million gay and lesbian Americans or approximately 2.5 million gay or lesbian househo... ... middle of paper ... ...der the facts related to homosexual adoption. The American Psychological Association as well as many other reputable sources gives ample research rebutting the majority of claims that homosexual parents are detrimental to their children. Our government saves money through adoption and has a responsibility to protect its citizens from unlawful discrimination by protecting all of its people’s rights. Although some states are making it easier for homosexuals to adopt many are going to opposite way and passing legislation to slow it; to this we must put our foot down. Through extensive research we have found to the best of our ability that allowing homosexuals to adopt is in the best interest of these children. To deprive a child of a home because of prejudice, homophobia, or hate would be to dishonor the values that this Nation stands for: Freedom, Justice, and Hope.
The author argues that since the passage of the Adoption and Safe Family Act of 1997, adoption rates have increased and adoption has been promoted as the “normative ideal”.
In 2002, 51,000 children were adopted through the foster care system. The federal government tracks the number of adoptions from the United States foster care system, and all of its international adoptions. It’s estimated that around 120,000 children are adopted by U.S citizens each year. Half of these children are adopted by individuals not related to t...
In the United States there are approximately 397,000 children in out-of home care, within the last year there was about 640,000 children which spent at least some time in out-of-home care. More than 58,000 children living in foster care have had their biological parental rights permanently terminated (Children’s Rights, 2014). Due to the rising number of children in foster care and the growing concerns of the safety, permanency, and well-being of children and families, the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997 was signed into law. On November 19, 1997, President Bill Clinton signed the Adoption and Safe Families Act of 1997, to improve the safety of children, to promote adoption and other permanent homes for children who need them, and to support families (Child Welfare League of America). The Adoption and Safe Families Act also promotes adoption by offering incentive payments for States. During the FY of 1999-2003 the payment to states which had exceeded the average number of adoptions received $20 million (Child Welfare League of America). The ASFA improved the existing federal child welfare law to require that the child’s health and safety be a “paramount” concern in any efforts made by the state to preserve or reunify the child’s family, and to provide new assurances that children in foster care are safe (Shuman, 2004).
The topic of child welfare is quite a broad one. There are numerous programs and policies that have been put in place to protect children. One of these policies is that of Adoption. Adoption was put into place to provide alternate care for children who cannot live with their biological families for various reasons. One of the more controversial issues surrounding adoption is that of Transracial adoption. Transracial Adoption is the joining of racially different parents and children (Silverman, 1993).
If there are over two million LGB (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) people willing to adopt a child, why not give a child a permanent home? There are over 65,000 adopted children and 14,000 foster children in the U.S. that are being raised in homes headed by non-heterosexual individuals or couples (Evan B. 2011). To let same sex couples adopt has been a huge deal throughout the United States for the past years that some states even banned them from ever adopting. Many lesbian and gay couples have been denied the application to adopt due to agencies that have negative views towards the couple because of religion or other beliefs. Everyone no matter who they are have “equal rights” and those rights are disrespected daily when it comes to homosexuals adopting or even thinking of becoming a parent themselves. Even though it is said children need both a male and a female parent to psychologically develop properly, homosexual couples should have the ability to adopt because they are equally capable of raising a child as a heterosexual couple.
In contrast to popular assumption, discrimination in public housing is becoming more prevalent than ever before. Testing done by the Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston has found that today people of color are discriminated against in nearly half of their efforts to buy, sell, finance, or rent property (“1968-Present Housing Discrimination). The statistics are even worse when considering colored people who have families as the testing found that they are discriminated against approximately two thirds of the time (“1968-Present Housing Discrimination”) In addition to facing great difficulty in property affairs, people of color are less likely to be offered residence in desirable locations. 86 percent of revitalized
Politics and laws are one of the biggest factors keeping gay and lesbian couples from adopting children. This is to discourage or prevent gay and lesbians from even trying to adopt. It has been proven that m...
Firstly, most agencies only allow married couples to adopt a child. In addition, in 2010, nearly 96 percent of babies is adopted by lesbian co-mothers while adoption of mixed-gender couples occupies just 4 percent. Instead of surrogacy and artificial insemination, both lesbian and gay couples are in high demand for adopting babies or children. Besides,a research of Ellen C. Perrin (2002) proved that the children, who are adopted by homosexual or heterosexual, have the same toy, game, style, friends, etc. In other words, personality, lifestyle, interior life, behaviors, gender identity, and sexual orientation of children do not depend on the gender of their parents. Consequently, it is undoubted that a child being cared for in a same-gender married family that this child will receive tangible and intangible things is better than in foster-care
“ There are approximately 100,000 children and/ or adolescents who are in the Child Welfare System waiting to be put into foster care or be adopted” (Kreisher). The number of children living with 1 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) parent today ranges from six to fourteen million children or adolescents. Adoption is to take into one’s family legally and raise as one’s own child.
In recent years, same-sex relationships have become more encompassing in US society. State legislation is changing such as accepting gay marriages, enforcing anti-discrimination laws, and legal gay adoptions; the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community is becoming public. Gay-headed families, like heterosexuals, are diverse and varying in different forms. Whether a created family is from previous heterosexual relationships, artificial insemination, or adoption, it deserves the same legal rights heterosexual families enjoy. Full adoption rights needs to be legalized in all states to provide a stable family life for children because sexual orientation does not determine parenting skills, children placed with homosexual parents have better well-being than those in foster care, and there are thousands of children waiting for good homes.
Adoption has been around for many years, and recently gay adoption has been asked by many people. There are many children in the world that need somebody, but there is not enough families or parents to take them in. There aren’t that many families who can and will adopt children. Some families can’t support them, they have children of their own that they need to support, or they just don’t want children. Gay adoption is a solution that will help find the children a great home. There are many openly gay couples that will love to adopt children. Its’s still illegal for homosexual couples to adopt children in some areas of the U.S, let alone the world. Across our country, and in other countries, there are children awaiting adoption and eager parents
International adoption stunts the growth of domestic adoption in the United States. While many kids are available for adoption in the U.S, more kids are being adopted internationally. The reason for this may be because “many people choose to adopt internationally because there is a less chance that the biological parents will try to find their children later in life; whereas if adopted in America, there is a greater chance that the biological parents will search for the child” (Databasewise.n.d.pp 1-2). Not only do the adoptive parents want to be sure that the biological parents do not find their biological child, but they also want to avoid confrontations that can eventually have volatile results. Since there is a great need for domestic adoption in the United States, many American citizens believe that people should be banned from adopting children overseas (carp.1998.pp 135). For example, recent studies have shown that the USA is faced with a very serious problem. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, between “1999-2006,an average of 129,884 children are in public foster care every year waiting to be adopted” (adoption alternativ...
Ignorance is a huge problem, it is one of the biggest factors responsible for issues such as racism and sexism. Luckily, ignorance, generally speaking, is a relatively easy issue to fix. The obvious answer here would be more education, but this is not necessarily the case. In order to eliminate much of the racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice that arise due to ignorance, it is necessary to look at education from another perspective: one that encourages togetherness and development alongside people of all races and genders. One quote by Grace Boggs book The Next American Revolution summarizes the issue perfectly. “Just imagine what our neighborhoods would be like if, instead of keeping our children isolated in classrooms for twelve years and more, we engaged them in community-building activities with the same audacity with which the civil rights movement engaged them in desegregation activities fifty years ago! ...Our children will be absorbing naturally and normally the values of social responsibility and cooperation at the same time that they are being inspired to learn the skills and acquire the information necessary to solve real problems” (Boggs 158). So, the main point here is that prejudice, against all sexes, genders, and creeds, can be eliminated via education that encourages cooperation with the largest variety of people. In order to understand this concept, it is necessary to look at it from a few different perspectives to analyze its viability in modern society.
Homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted and integrated into today’s society, however, when it comes to homosexuals establishing families, a problem is posed. In most states, homosexuals can adopt children like any other married or single adult. There are many arguments to this controversial topic; some people believe that it should be legal nationally, while others would prefer that is was banned everywhere, or at least in their individual states. There are logical reasons to allow gays to adopt children, but for some, these reasons are not enough. The main issue really is, what is in the best interest of the child? This type of problem isn’t really one with causes, effects, and solutions, but one with pros and cons. Like any other adoption situation, a parent prove themselves to be responsible and capable enough to raise a child on their own, or with a spouse.
Someone is adopting everyday children all over the world. The children wait joyfully for couples to come and adopted them. So If a gay or a lesbian couple goes to adopted a child from a foster home they would have to go though more hassle then a straight couple would.