Homosexual Adoption | Teen Ink

Homosexual Adoption

May 1, 2014
By alexx_rich BRONZE, Hanover, Massachusetts
alexx_rich BRONZE, Hanover, Massachusetts
2 articles 0 photos 0 comments

Imagine two people with everything on the table that a child could need. A nice home, stable jobs, safety and security, and the ability to listen, love, and care for a child. Now imagine a child sitting in a foster home, waiting and wishing that two people would walk through the door and provide them with these things. As this child waits for a family to love and support them, they aren’t even aware that an opportunity has already been taken away from them. This is because the two people who were ready to free a child from isolation and a broken heart, were turned down because they were homosexual. Why should anyone have the right to deprive homosexuals of the right to have children, or the right to deprive a child from a loving home? Homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt and should not be discriminated against just because they choose to love who they love.

It is extremely rare for homosexual couples to become parents by accident. The accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals is almost 50%. That means almost 50% of heterosexual couples are unwillingly forced to become parents. Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University in Massachusetts who researches gay and lesbian parenting stated that “homosexual parents tend to be more motivated, and more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents.” Just the fact alone that homosexual parents choose to become parents shows that they have a stronger chance of being committed and more involved in their child’s life.

Children of homosexual parents show limited differences in achievement, mental health, and social functioning http://www.debate.org/opinions/should-homosexual-people-be-allowed-to-legally-adopt-children. Also, these kids may have the advantage of open-mindedness, tolerance and role models for unbiased relationships. One 33-year-old man with a lesbian mother stated in an interview, "I feel I'm a more open, well-rounded person for having been raised in a nontraditional family, and I think those that know me would agree. My mom opened me up to the positive impact of differences in people." Living in a home with two homosexual parents did not hurt him in any way, in fact it changed his life positively.

Not only do children of homosexual adopters receive these benefits, but gays and lesbians are likely to provide homes for children who are difficult-to-place in the foster system. In fact, an October 2011 report by Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute found that, of gay and lesbian adoptions at more than 300 agencies, ten percent of the kids placed were older than six which is typically a very difficult age to adopt out http://www.livescience.com/17913-advantages-gay-parents.html. About twenty five percent were older than three. Moreover, sixty percent of gay and lesbian couples are willing to adopt outside of their race and more than half of kids adopted by gays and lesbians have special needs http://www.lifelongadoptions.com/lgbt-adoption/lgbt-adoption-statistics.

Not everyone thinks this way, but some people imagine of a child being raised in a gay community they may think the child will later in life turn homosexual. The fact of the matter is that some may and some may not, but it is their choice and they should not be discriminated against because of it. No one is forced to become homosexual, it is a personal choice made by that person, for that person, and in my opinion does not contribute to anyone else’s lives but their own.  People that grew up with homosexual parents say that they have never pressured them to follow in their footsteps.

Other arguments include that in order for a child to grow up to be well-balanced adults, children need role models of both sexes http://www.frc.org/get.cfm?i=if04g01. Individuals argue that boys without fathers under-achieve. When it comes to religion, some individuals argue that we are a 'Christian' country. Some say even if you don’t go to church, our values remain based on Christian teaching. 'Honour thy father and mother', invokes the Fifth Commandment, so many believe that it is a sin to allow gay adoption according to the bible http://www.theweek.co.uk/welfare/35575/pros-and-cons-gay-adoption. Lastly, a hefty minority purely find gay parenting 'wrong' in their eyes. They agree that the practice therefore should not be enforced on all. There is nothing to back up their argument, they just believe in their own minds that because they don’t agree with it, that it is in fact wrong.

There are an estimated 2 million homosexual people who are interested in adoption. This is a huge group of potential parents who could get kids out the foster system and into stable housing. Allowing gay couples to adopt wouldn’t hurt themselves, the child, or society. When adoption centers choose to decide who to let take a child home, they should be open minded to the fact that saying no to two people who have everything to offer does not help the child, it only hurts them. Homosexual couples have every right to adopt a child and there would be many children growing up in loving homes with wonderful parents if society would decide to be more open minded.



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