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Julia Franco

Mr. Wolfe

English 10 Period 2

7 February 2017

Gay Adoption

There are still many who believe in traditional family raising meaning there should be a

father a mother and the child. There are arguments on whether gays and lesbians should be able

to adopt. Many believe in procreation which is the production of an offspring and believe that

gays and lesbians should not be able to get a child simply by signing a piece of paper. Also,

adoption centers will refuse to let gay and lesbians adopt because they believe it will not be in

the best interest of the child. In 1964 research was being conducted that homosexuality was a

illness and described homosexuals as being emotionally immature. As protest and battles with

society began to emerge from the LGBT community which is the the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and

transgender community they fought to be heard and accepted. However, adoption centers are

only looking out for the interest of the child and believe that the child should be raised in a

family with love, care and support. Opponents suggest that a child will grow up differently and

not be raised in a good environment. Supporters have been trying for years to get adoption

centers to see that a child can be raised just as fine as a child who has a father and a mother.

While supporters of gay adoption claim that they are able to raise children and should have the

same rights as a heterosexual couple the opponents of gay adoption argue gays and lesbians are

not fit to raise a child and provide the love and care that a heterosexual couple would. The

question that follows all this is should gays and lesbians be allowed to adopt children?
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Supporters of gay adoption and homosexuals all believe in having the same rights and to

be treated just the same as a heterosexual couple when adopting. They argue that if they are

willing to adopt a child and put in the effort of making sure that this child has everything it needs

than they should be treated just the same and should have the right to provide care for a child. A

couple who was trying to adopt a child were new to parenting and were putting in their time to

make sure that they did everything right when they adopted. This couple was Kari Lunsford and

Tina Sweeten-Lunsford. They attended a training session for foster parents and the social worker

told them, they were not eligible because they were lesbians(Lewin 23). The LGBT

community has been fighting for their rights to adopt no matter what their sexuality is. Many

children who are in the system all hope to find a family who will love and care for them and

when a couple is denied access to adopt a child then they fight for their right to not be

discriminated. Homosexual couples who are wanting or looking to adopt believe that they will

make great parents because most parents goal is to raise their soon to be child with all the love

they can give. A educator who is a proponent of gay adoption and specializes in sexuality

education writes about her researcher and her findings when studying how a child is when put in

the environment of being raised by a homosexual couple. Her studies show that, parents sexual

orientation has no bearing on their ability to raise a child, or on a childs own sexual orientation

or gender identity-nor does it affect childrens emotional development or educational

abilities(Schroeder). Based on these findings opponents of gay adoption still based off the

adoptions from their own beliefs. That is why the LGBT community fights for the right to adopt

a child because people in adoption centers enforce their beliefs upon homosexual couples who

try to adopt.
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Furthermore, outcomes of the child are shown to be just the same as any child who was

raised in a home with a mother and a father. When adoption centers refuse to let a child be

adopted than they are risking the fact that the child may never be considered for adoption again

and when they turn 18 they are no longer in the system and are on their own. Currently today

there are 107,918 foster children waiting to be adopted. The growth of foster care children who

are waiting to be adopted continues to increase. Stephanie Pappas a well educated women who

focuses on psychology studied a couple and observed the relationship between the parents and

the child and said, theres no doubt whatsoever from the research that children with two lesbian

parents are growing up to be just as well-adjusted and successful(Pappas). As the fight for

allowing same sex couples to adopt continues it progressively helps more and more to take a

stand. In 2015 the New York Times Magazine published an article on a lesbian couple who were

raising a child together in Mississippi still have concerns for their daughter's well being due to

Mississippis law that states that its ok to discriminate against gay people. This law is called the

Mississippi Adoption Ban. The lesbian couple who are raising a daughter together are both not

legally her parents. Only one is legally her parent and could adopt since the couple could not

adopt together because they are lesbian. Even though they are raising the child together in their

house only one parent is on the adoption papers. When the magazine article was talking about

same sex couples and how Mississippi still has their Adoption Ban law they reported that 29

percent of Mississippis same-sex couple households were raising children younger than 18--the

highest percentage of any state in the nation..(Lewin). Same-sex couples have not had an issue

raising their child and research has shown that a child gets all the love and attention from the

parents the same way a heterosexual couple would raise their child. Same-sex couples have

shown that they are good enough to raise a child and that the child will not turn out any
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differently or be impacted in a negative way but opponents of gay adoption do not see eye to eye

with this issue.

Besides the proponents viewpoints on this issue opponents say homosexual couples are

not fit to be parents and do not have the capability of taking care of a child. All people have a

right to their own beliefs and are able to share these beliefs such as Martin Hamilton-Smith who

is a Government minister and is a opponent to gay adoption. During a Parliament session there

was a discussion about having changes to the adoption act by letting same-sex couples adopt but

Martin Hamilton-Smith does not agree to have these changes discussed or be made. He spoke out

and said, I think as Parliament we ought to be encouraging people to actually make babies

together...rather than creating legal devices where people can just, if you like, check out of the

relationship business and start having children(Smith). Smith claims that the couples who want

to adopt should not be allowed to because a child should be born and brought up by a family and

not just be put into one by being chosen and signed off by a piece of paper. The most suited

parents are the ones that are not gay or lesbian according to Smith and the child would be better

off with a father and a mother. A gay couple who is wanting to adopt or already has and is raising

a child does not have the motherly instinct that a mother has towards their child and others

believe that the life of the child who is being raised by a homosexual couple will not turn out

normally or child will have issues developing. As Smith continues with his speech and says what

he has to say he speaks out and says, We would not have developed into the species we have

without that social structure (of heterosexual couples)(Smith). Smith is implying that a

homosexual couple can not produce a child together like a heterosexual couple would. As this

issue continues questions arise if homosexuals are capable of raising a child.

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Children with same-sex parents are shown to develop differently as some have believed

and as said before a child who is being raised by same-sex parents will not turn out normally or

will have issues developing. There have been cases where a child in the environment of being

raised by a homosexual couple have not had the best experiences. Studies show that there has

been acting-out behaviour and the desire for a mother by children with homosexual

parents(Perrin). As said before these children feel a lost connection because they do not have a

mother and the gay parents do not have that motherly instinct. Besides the fact that children can

develop differently, opponents have said how children have issues developing. As some have

seen gay adoption to be everything but harmful that is not the case. When interviewing children

with homosexual parents the testimonies show just how much a child can be effected. When a 9

year old girl was being talked to about what it was like having two moms her response was, The

kids at school would laugh....They say awful things about lesbians...then they make fun of me.

Having lesbian mothers is nothing to laugh about....I have told my [mother] that she has made

my life difficult(Perrin). The child who is being raised by her lesbian mother is impacted in her

life even outside of her household. These opponents who have been against gay adoption and the

adoption centers who have been against gay and lesbian couples adopting have only looked out

for the best interest of the child. With this being said there are two sides to how everyone treats

this issue and how everyone views gay adoption.

The LGBT community all want the right to adopt without discrimination or the doubts

that they can raise a child and the opponents will still argue that they are not capable of raising or

knowing how to raise a child. Same-sex couples are able to provide their children with a stable

and caring home while the people who are against gay adoption believe the children will suffer.

Based on the researcher and reviewing both sides the stronger position is held with the
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proponents. There have been cases where the child is not treated from the best of the abilities of

the parent but there have been more cases where the child is loved and supported and got out of

the foster care system because a couple chose them and wanted to start a family and wanted to

love the child. Gay and lesbian couples should not be discriminated against because of their

sexuality or because others believe they are not fit to raise a child.

Works Cited

Lewin, Tamar. "Final Holdout on Same-Sex Adoption." New York Times, 13 Aug 2015, pp. A.9.

SIRS Issues Researcher

Schroeder, Elizabeth. Taking sides : clashing views on controversial issues in family and

personal relationships. Guilford, CT: McGraw-Hill/Dushkin, 2003. Print.

Pappas, Stephanie. "Why Gay Parents May Be the Best Parents." LiveScience. Purch, 15 Jan.

2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2017.

Novak, Lauren, and Adam Langenberg. "Same-Sex Adoption Not 'Best for Kids'." Advertiser

(Adelaide), 13 Nov 2016, pp. 3. SIRS Issues

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