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Adoption is a difficult commitment for all adults willing to take on the

responsibilities of caring for a child that is not biologically theirs. Finding a good home
for the children in need of parents is an even more difficult matter. Not everyone is fit to
be an adoptive parent. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,
there were approximately 130,000 children in the child welfare system waiting to be
adopted in 2007. This was the same year Congress stated that there was a shortage of
qualified adoptive parents (Library of Congress, 2007). In 1999, The American Civil
Liberties Union stated that there was a large amount of gay and lesbian couples interested
in adopting children. In more recent years, in 2007, it was recorded that there were
approximately two million homosexual people interested in adopting (Gates, Badgett,
Macomber, & Chambers, 2007). There are obstacles that these couples in the adoption
process must overcome such as policies of adoption, social stigma, and state laws
(Shelly-Sireci & Ciano-Boyce, 2003). The big debate here is whether or not child
adoption by same-sex couples threatens the childs mental and physical health. Child
adoption by same-sex couples has no negative impingement on children.
According to research done by Averett, Nalavany, and Ryan, it is concluded that
Gay and lesbian adoptive parents, as well as heterosexual adoptive parents, face
challenges and issues in their families. Although the emotional and behavioral issues of
their children can provide challenges for adoptive parents, their parents sexual
orientation does not impact their ability to face those challenges (148). This statement
emphasizes that no matter how many challenges gay and lesbian adoptive parents face,
they are still capable of performing the parental responsibilities a child needs when
growing up. Although gay and lesbian parents may not, despite their best efforts, be

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able to protect their children fully from the effects of stigmatization and discrimination,
parents sexual orientation is not a variable that, in itself, predicts their ability to provide a
home environment that supports childrens development (Perrin 343). A child adopted
by same-sex couples may be a victim of bullying. According to the American Justice
Department, one in four kids are bullied throughout their adolescent lives. The children
who are adopted by same-sex couples will not be the only ones bullied, if at all. As
Perrin said, a parents sexual orientation does not affect their ability to provide a good
home environment for a child, meaning there is no difference between homosexual and
heterosexual parents capabilities to provide a good home life necessary for proper child
development.
In fact, there are actually benefits to children who are adopted by same-sex
couples. Growing up with homosexual parents may make children more tolerant towards
diversity, and more nurturing towards younger children than to children with heterosexual
parents (Perrin 343). One other thing that Perrin suggests from his research is that
adopted children of lesbian parents see themselves as more lovable. The parents and
teachers of these children see them as more affectionate, responsive, and protective of
children younger than them, compared to children with heterosexual parents (Perrin 343).
There is also the question whether or not the adopted child is at risk of
questioning their gender identity or sexual orientation. Perrin argues, There is no
systematic difference between gay and nongay parents in emotional health, parenting
skills, and attitudes toward parenting. No data have pointed to any risk to children as a
result of growing up in a family with 1 or more gay parents (343). Other research
conducted supports the fact the there is no negative effect on children who are adopted

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and raised by same-sex couples. Research indicates that parental homosexuality does not
foster gender identity confusion or homosexual orientation in children and adolescents
(Gato & Fontaine 245).
On the other side of this debate, it is argued that a child may be at risk of negative
short and long-term effects as a result of being raised by same-sex couples. In some
states, same-sex couples are not permitted to adopt children. One of these states is
Oklahoma. There was a couple in Oklahoma who adopted a child, but only one parent,
Lucy Doel, was able to sign as the mother. The other woman in the homosexual
relationship was Jennifer Doel, and she was not allowed to sign as the second parent.
The denial of an amended birth certificate deprived Jennifer of an important parental
rightthe ability to visit her child in the hospital and make medical decisions for the
child she legally adopted (Lombardo 1302). Situations like this are bad for the parents,
but also are potentially bad for the childs health. A child with two legal parents has a
greater benefit in terms of medical matters because both parents get to discuss the best
possible treatment for a childs illness or injury. Homosexual parents, in states that do
not permit two legal gay or lesbian parents to an adopted child, are only allowed one
parent to make a decision for the childs treatment, a decision that may not be the best for
the child.
The other risk a child may face, from not being able to have a legal second parent,
has to do with mental wellness rather than physical health. Denying legal parent status to
second parents prevents children from having the psychological and legal security that
comes from having two parents (American Academy of Pediatrics 339). If states do not
permit a legal second parent, the child will suffer psychological instability due to not

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having that second legal parent as opposed to children with two legal heterosexual
parents.
The big question at hand is whether or not child adoption by same-sex couples is
beneficial to the child. The answer to this question is that there is no negative impact on
the child, whose adopted parents are gay or lesbian. Fifteen studies consisting of 500
same-sex parents conclude that children of same-sex adoptive parents do just as well as
children of heterosexual parents (Tufts-New England Medical Center). It is clear from
the previous research that same sex parents and heterosexual parents differ in no way that
brings any affect to their child. Children with heterosexual parents grow up with the same
benefits and family values as children who grow up with same sex parents.