7.

THW ban adoption by unmarried

woman

Are children raised by same-sex couples predisposed to homosexuality?

Are such children more prone to develop psychiatric problems?

Will there be a lack of appropriate role models?

Are the children of same-sex couples subject to stigma and harassment by peers?

Every state in the country currently allows single adults to adopt children. This may be less
surprising than the fact that singles have been legally eligible to adopt since the first adoption
laws were passed in the mid-nineteenth century. Indeed, the spinster who took in children was
a staple of Victorian moral fiction and a recurrent figure in adoption narratives. A fair number of
unmarried women (Jessie Taft was one) adopted children in the early decades of the twentieth
century. They often raised children in pairs as well as alone, illustrating that the vast majority of
adoptions by lesbians and gay men have been arranged as single parent adoptions, whether
they actually were or not. But formal legal eligibility did not imply tolerance, let alone
acceptance. Singles were viewed as less desirable parents than married couples. Men were
considered far less desirable than women, if they were considered at all.
To be normal, households had to headed by heterosexual, married, couples who were
comfortable with a division of labor between non-working wives and bread-winning husbands.
This ideal made single applicants for adoption abnormal by definition. If they wanted children so
badly, why werent they married? Who would take care of children whose single mothers worked
for a living? What would become of children, especially boys, who grew up without fathers? In
1958, the adoption standards issued by the Child Welfare League of America stated simply that
adoptive families should include both a mother and a father. No mention was made of single
parents at all.

British career women are increasingly willing to copy American celebrities such as Calista Flockhart and
Michelle Pfeiffer and adopt children to become single mothers, according to research published today.
The survey, for National Adoption Week, also found that married people are no longer the group most likely to
consider adopting. People who cohabit with a partner of the same or the opposite sex are more likely to consider
adopting, as are single people.
There are 5,000 children in care waiting for adoptive parents. The survey showed that nine per
cent of cohabiting couples would consider adopting in future, but only three per cent of married
couples. However, five per cent of all single people would consider adopting. The figure rose to
seven per cent among single 25- to 34-year-olds.
"The note of warning I would sound from seeing single female celebrities adopt is that a lifestyle
which involves a lot of travelling will mean a lot of upheaval and separation. Most adopted
children have come from the insecurity of the care system and what they need is stability."
The criteria are based on various aspects of the prospective adopting parents: age, fertility
status, previous children, financial status, employment, religion, background, and marital status.
All of these are important issues to consider when placing a child in a new family, however,
marital status seems to be the primary focus of some debate. Concerns over single parent
adoptions should be laid to rest by the many benefits singles have to offer children in need of a
home.

One argument against single parent adoptions is that it deprives children of a traditional twoparent family. Missing a father or a mother would result in emotional and physical problems for
the children. One example is a study recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology was performed by Vanderbilt University claiming to show that daughters without
fathers experience puberty earlier than girls with close, supportive relationships with two parents

(Fox)

. Supporters of single parent adoption believe that an unstable or broken home can cause
more damage to a child than the lack of an additional parent.
here have been no studies performed to date that show that children adopted by married
opposite-sex couples fare any better than those adopted by any other type of couples. Therefore,
based on this, I do support the rights of unmarried and gay/lesbian couples to be able to adopt
children.
Adoption offers a wonderful opportunity for a child in need of a family. This is the focus of the
adoption philosophy.
For parentless children, adoption provides the nurturing, love, and security that all children
deserve. More than just providing a loving and safe environment like fostering children, adoption
is a lifetime commitment to the health and welfare of another human being.
ingle parents adopt for many of the same reasons as married couples. Single parents have the
urge to nurture and raise a child. They seek to have a family unit and share their life with
another, just as married couples do. According to an article from the National Adoption
Information Clearinghouse, "Because many women have pursued careers and put off marriage
and having children until they are older, they find that they have reached their thirties, without a
husband, but with a compelling desire for a child" (1). The number one reason single parents want
to adopt is the fact that their own childhood was fulfilling and happy and they are ready to share
that experience (Curto 7). Single parents approach adoption with the same commitment and
devotion as a married couple.
With the high divorce rate in this country, single parent adoption provides a much more solid
environment: a home free from the issues of an unstable, broken home and its effects on the
child. Single parents are usually of higher education and have higher incomes in comparison to
the country's average. They have concentrated on their careers and have established a stable
home that would benefit a child. Divorced parents are dealing with emotional and financial
stress, which can negatively affect a child. A New York Times article reports that out of one-fifth
of the nation's 51.1 million Caucasian children, over half of the 9.8 million African-American
children, and almost one-third of the 7 million Hispanic children live with one parent due to
divorce and unwed mothers (17). With these types of statistics, there is no reason to discriminate
against a single person for adopting a child when she/he is quite capable of providing a stable
and nurturing environment.
A single parent can provide a loving and nurturing home for a child. Adoptive singles use family
and friends for extended support. As our former first lady, Hillary Clinton, said, "It takes a village
to raise a child." They give the child their sole attention and all of their love. Financially, they
have planned for the future and the majority of single adoptive parents are settled in their
careers. With a large percentage of the population's children living in a broken home, single
parents can provide the emotional, financial and physical support without the damage of divorce.
If a single parent has met all other qualifications other than marriage, then there is not a valid
reason to deny adoption and many reasons to approve.