Gay Adoption
Exploring Child Welfare by Joan Shireman

For many years, adoptions of children by gay and lesbian parents were done as single parents, with one partner of a gay or lesbian couple becoming the legal parent of the adopted child. In recent years, many gay and lesbian individuals and couples have not been willing to adopt in this way.

Placements in gay or lesbian homes are controversial. There is a moral concern about the home environment expressed by some religious groups. Morality is a very personal issue, and the morality of denying a child an adoptive home also needs to be considered. Additionally, there is a fear that a child in a homosexual home may be molested, or may grow up to be homosexual; neither of these fears is supported by facts. Nevertheless, there are legal barriers in many states to joint adoptions by gay or lesbian couples.

These adoptions have so recently surfaced in the adoption statistics that there are no outcome studies. However, evaluations of gay and lesbian homes indicate that these are much like other homes in parenting. There will be special issues for children adopted by gay and lesbian parents, however, mainly concerning their ability to accept and explain the different family structure.

Books and articles

Sullivan, A. (1995) Issues in Gay and Lesbian Adoption. Washington, D. C., Child Welfare League of America.

Taylor, M. U. (1998). Attitude of Social Workers Toward Gay and Lesbian Adoption. Social Work. Long Beach, CA, California State University.