Adoption by Homosexual Couples

"I'm not really so different from any of your children," Wahls told Iowa legislators. "My family really isn't so different from yours. After all, your family doesn't derive its sense of worth from being told by the state, 'You're married, congratulations!' Zach Wahls, 19, shared his story at the Iowa House hearing on Tuesday in an effort to dissuade lawmakers from trying to amend the state's constitution to ban gay marriage. He argued that they should not block gay marriage for fear that it will result in maladjusted children. He pointed to his own life as an example that children of gay couples turn out fine and that gay families are just as normal as heterosexual ones. (Iowa House Democrats via The Christian Post) In many countries including in the USA, to this day, the simple topic of conversation about the union of two people from the same sex still causes controversy. Ones opinion always falls to the harmless intentions of offending a certain group when discussing rights and equality. Yet, our laws and society in the majority have come to one conclusion. Adoption of children by homosexual parents or couples it is still seen as a taboo in our culture. On the 2000 Census, it was reported that about 65,000 children lived with same sex parents. In 2012, 110,000 live with gay parents. Of the total amount of children in U.S. households, less than 1% lives with same-sex parents. Therefore, children with same-sex parents are still far and away a minority. Some people say that children need a mother and a father to raise us; to provide both viewpoints of gender: masculinity, femininity and all the issues those entail. However, there are many who believe that gender does not matter when parenting. Over the years, the number of children living with LGBT parents has risen tremendously. As the trend continues, that number will only increase, as same sex adoption and parenting becomes more and more widely accepted. Households with Children in the US Married Opposite-Sex Couples 22,872,151 90.80% 4.40% 4.80% Unmarried Opposite-Sex Couples 2,267,016 88% 5.20% 6.80% Same-Sex Couples 94,627 72.80% 21.20% 6%

Households with children Biological only Step only or adopted only Combination

Children who grow up in a family made up by homosexual couples are no different than those children who grow up in a family made up by heterosexual couples. In todays society the idea that homosexual couples are not the best partnership to provide good education, good morals, be a psychologically and socially and healthy environment in where a child can be raised, it is starting to slowly be more accepted. Unfortunately, it is still prejudicially judged as an act of discrimination, it even creates a homophobic attitude to those who refuse to at least try to understand, compare the cons and pros and to read any related studies. It can contra descent easily with the fact that, first of all, a family, in the definition as we know it, it is simply a nuclei of love and nothing else. A new study by psychology researchers suggests that whether parents are gay, lesbian or straight, how well they work together as a couple and support each other in parenting is linked to fewer behavior problems among their adopted children and is more important than their sexual orientation. Rachel H. Farr at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Charlotte J. Patterson at the University of Virginia report their findings from this first empirical examination of differences and similarities in co-parenting among lesbian, gay and heterosexual adoptive couples and associations with child behavior in the July/August issue of Child Development. Farr, who led the study, says, "While actual divisions of childcare tasks such as feeding, dressing and taking time to play with kids were unrelated to children's adjustment, it was the parents who were most satisfied with their arrangements with each other who had children with fewer behavior problems, such as acting out or showing aggressive behavior." "It appears that while children are not affected by how parents divide childcare tasks, it definitely does matter how harmonious the parents' relationships are with each other," she adds. She and Patterson also observed differences in division of labor in lesbian and gay couples compared to heterosexual parents. The study suggests that lesbian and gay couples may be creating new ways to live together and raise children outside of traditional gender roles, the authors say, and results are important to adoption professionals and others who work with adoptive families. Further, the research is informative for those debating legal, political and policy questions about family dynamics and outcomes for children raised by same-sex couples. Homosexual couples, as a consequence of that opposition taken by society from the same group, will fight to open the door for equality rights. A battle for respect and dignity in their form of life. The fact that a homosexual couple adopts a child does not mean that the child will adopt the parents way of being and model their lifestyle and choices. On the contrary, the child will come to identify his or herself easier and will form an atmosphere of liberal and openminded beliefs.

As you can understand, there has been no proven evidence that children adopted by homosexual couples have not generated a disadvantage compared to children raised by heterosexual couples. In the same study, without the initial intention, it was found that a homosexual couples tended to play more with their children, they were less likely to use physical punishments and often had better use of language when disciplining the child. It is important to mention that another reason for why I support adoption of children by homosexual is because there are millions of children waiting to be adopted. There are as many children waiting to be loved and cared for as there are parents hoping to be given the opportunity to be allowed to adopt. We hear horror stories about children being abandoned in the most horrific and unimaginable circumstances and being left alone in their own luck. There are many parents out there who do not deserve to be parents. So, why deny homosexual couples the opportunity to change that childs life for the best, disregarding that label society has put on them?

Works Cited
1. Rachel H. Farr, Charlotte J. Patterson. Coparenting Among Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Couples: Associations With Adopted Children's Outcomes. Child Development, 2013; 84 (4): 1226 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.12046

2. Mark Regnerus, "How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study," Social Science Research Vol 41, Issue 4 (July 2012), pp. 752-770; online at:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X12000610 3. Loren Marks, "Same-sex parenting and children's outcomes: A closer examination of the American Psychological Association's brief on lesbian and gay parenting," Social Science Research Vol 41, Issue 4 (July 2012), pp. 735-751; online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0049089X12000580