Legalize Adoption

Should it be illegal for a couple to adopt a child just because both partners are of the same sex? Should same sex couples be denied the right to become parents? No. Most children who are in foster care or in the care of the state do not have anyone. These children don’t care if their “parents” are gay, lesbian, black, white, or Indian. These children just want someone to love them, take care of them and make them feel safe. Gay and lesbian adoption should be legalized so these children can have parents who want children as bad as children need parents.

In the United States, the types of gay/lesbian adoption allowed vary from state to state. The main types are single, joint, and second-parent adoption. Forty-six of the fifty-one states allow single gay and lesbian adoption, eleven states allow joint adoption, twenty-three states allow second parent adoption, two states are unclear on their laws, and one state prohibits all gay/lesbian adoption. “An estimated sixty-five thousand children are living with a gay or lesbian parent” (gates) in the United States.

Many people believe that if a child is raised in a gay/lesbian home that it will cause the child to be gay, but “there is no conclusive evidence that homosexuality is linked to ones environment.”(Johnson).In other words, “growing up in a gay couple household will not “make” a child gay.” (Johnson). I know lesbian families whose children have excelled through school and are on their way to graduating with honors. These families are normal only instead of mommy and daddy there is two daddies or two mommies. In all actuality, the only concern is the welfare of the child and the” Child Welfare League of America fully supports gay and lesbian adoption” (Gates).

A foster parent takes care and responsibility for the foster child but the state still maintains the legal guardianship of the child. “An estimated 14,100 foster children live with gay or lesbian parents within the United States” (Johnson). If a child can be in the foster care of a gay or lesbian parent, the only thing short of adoption is the legal matters of the child. Obviously, the state thinks it is perfectly fine for these children to develop a bond with these gay/lesbian families but not okay for them to permanently stay with these families. The state would rather rip the child from only true family the child has ever known to place the child in a traditional household.

In many cases the children in gay/lesbian families cannot be adopted or the parents aren’t