gay adoptions

[joe hx]

At church today they were talking about orphans and how many there were. This made me think... if gay marriage was allowed and they were allowed to adopt children... How many orphans could they adopt? Hundreds, thousands?

[Sleepwalker]

Could, or would? You'd have to look at how many gays get married, how many want children, how many want adopted children vs other options.

It's not just taking gay population, dividing by two and multiplying by 2.6

That, and marriage is not always a prerequisite for adopting.

[Rapscallion]

How about from the other direction. If gays aren't allowed to adopt, what happens when a hetero couple adopts a child and the child turns out to be gay a few years down the line? Are they supposed to give the child back as defective?

That's what a ban on gay marriage says about gays.

Rapscallion

[AdminAssistant]

That, and marriage is not always a prerequisite for adopting.

It is in an increasing number of states - specifically to prevent gays from adopting.

[HYHYBT]

I don't know that the numbers themselves would be significant.... but then, every child* not adopted solely because of this sort of ban is his life (and several others) made worse by it, with no compensating gain anywhere.

*disclaimer: not really every child, presumably. There are some people who are such horrible parents that their children are better off without them, and even with protections in place, surely a few such people manage to adopt... but that's rare, and has nothing to do with being gay.)

[Cat]

I'm adopted, and I personally think anyone who wants and is able to should have the right to adopt. SO many kids out there need loving homes

[Amanita]

^Damn right. Another adoptee here!
I remember my religious grandmother asking how I felt about gays adopting. I used her own language to answer- that I believed God would rather have a child in a loving home with gay parents than an abusive or dysfunctional one with straight parents. That God would want the child where they were loved and cared for, above all else.

My grandmother didn't freak out. She just said "I never thought of it like that before."

[Ladeeda]

There are too many kids who need good, stable, loving homes--and too many gay men, women, and couples who could provide those homes-- for such adoptions to NOT happen. It's a moronic stigma with no basis in fact that only hurts the kids that need homes.

2 things will decrease the number of kids in the System: sensible sexual health education including information about birth control, and allowing homosexuals to adopt.

The first decreases the number of unwanted pregnancies and abandoned children.

The second decreases the number of unadopted children.

Might not bring things down to 0, but would probably make things a lot more managable, and possbily allow for stricter limits on foster care homes to avoid things like in the Child Abuse thread.

[ExRetailDrone]

I think that it's utterly moronic to have this ban in place. People become bleeding hearts when they talk about all the poor kids out there who need good, stable homes, yet some of these same people in the next breath will vehemently deny gays the right to adopt. Hypocritical much? And the ones hurt the most in all of this are the children

[HYHYBT]

The thing is, even if the main (spoken) argument against gay adoption (that children do best with one male and one female parent) turns out to be true, it's completely irrelevant unless there are so many m/f couples trying to adopt that there are no kids left. And unless something's drastically changed in the last few days, we're nowhere near that point yet.

The more-often-hinted-at-than-spoken arguments, i.e. gays are all child molesters and/or only want children so they can "turn" them (the vampire theory of homosexuality)... well, they're harder to argue against because they're so firmly based in nonsense to begin with. Believing them is, by itself, proof that you aren't interested in logic, evidence, or anything else that doesn't agree with what you've made up your mind to imagine is true.

[fireheart17]

It makes me wonder if Rachel in Glee and Lily in Modern Family are subtle hints that having gay parents does not make you gay (Rachel's dating Finn, Lily's still a baby).

That said, if the argument of "children need a male and female parent in their life", what about single mothers/fathers? There are plenty of people and places where kids end up having the opposite sex as someone who can help them become the best person they can be-teachers, coaches, priests (not so much in Ausland, but you get the idea) and so on. Hell, I even remember the Babysitter Club books a few years back, where one girl kept bringing her boyfriend over so the eldest of the kids she was sitting had a male presence around. (single mum)

[christopher]

I dont see why a loving, caring gay couple should not be allowed to adopt. Too many kids need good homes and good parents. It offends me to know that this society condones such mistreatment. I will admit that when I was younger and more ignorant, I disliked gays. But I never knew any until I moved to Washington. I became good friends with some and really got to understand them better. I realized that they were no different than me. So what that my best friend liked men. Didnt change the fact that he is a very nice man. It is a shame that good men and women like him cant adopt because of their choice of partners.

[tabbyblack13]

I see it like this "A good home is a good home". It shouldn't matter if there is a male/female couple, single parent, or a gay couple. There are so many children out there that need a home.

[Eisa]

Gee if all child molesters are gay, I know some people who are keeping some BIG secrets from me...

I also think it's ridiculous. It should be based on who can provide a safe, loving, supportive home. It doesn't matter who they want to fuck. [Well, gender-wise, I mean.]

[tropicsgoddess]

I personally think anyone who wants and is able to should have the right to adopt. SO many kids out there need loving homes

I agree. To me I don't think it should matter if the parent(s) is/are gay, straight single or married. It should matter only that the adopted child is placed in a loving and safe home.