Adoption from Same Sex Couples

Homosexuality is now a major social issue slowly being widely accepted. Here we talk about adoption by Same Sex Couples and where to start.

If partners are in a same sex relationship, one may decide to adopt a child. In the U.S. the lega requirements of adoption from same sex partners differs from one state to another and also in countries worldwide.

'Second parent adoption' is one of the options open to same sex adoption, where a partner is able to adopt the biological child or adopt the partner's child with the parent still having parental rights. One of the partners, in theory could as a single parent adopt a child. The other partner can also adopt the child, so that they too become the child's parent. This process is not available in Florida where adoption by homosexuals is forbidden, nor is it possible in Utah, where any couples who are cohabiting and not legally married, are unable to adopt anyone.

However, it is possible for single people to adopt in Utah. In the United States, second parent adoption is allowed for couples of the same sex in California, Connecticut, Illinois, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont Washington and in Washington D.C. The other 38 states that the laws for adoption by partnerships of the same sex are ambiguous. Homosexuality has become a major social issue with civil unions and marriages of same sex couples becoming legal status in many countries. I may only be a matter of time before all these issues regarding same sex partnerships are wiped out.

Adoption by homosexuals is still a relatively new social issue as the jury is still out on public opinion and its' slowness for acceptance. The subject of homosexuality is still a sensitive and controversial one to touch on, with hotly contested issues and opinions from both sides.

Gay adoption is rejected by the opponents usually on moral grounds as homosexuality is regarded as immoral. Adoption by same sex couples is seen as highly immoral, as parents are traditionally thought of as being female and the other male. It is thought that heterosexual couples make better parents and that homosexual couples may not be able to fulfill all the requirements of a child. There  are several organizations that strongly support homosexual couples - the American Academy and the American Psychological Association of Pediatrics believe that they qualify as parents equally as heterosexual couples.

Many people fear that a child being raised by homosexual parents influence a child greatly into becoming a homosexual, or that the child's well-being could fall detrimentally. Research shows that this is not as preconceived, and that children do fare just as well with same-sex parents as they do with heterosexual parents, as sexual orientation has no bearing on the child. A study conducted by the UCLA estimated that by not allowing child adoption by LGBT couples set the

United States annual costs which ranged from $87 million and $120 million. This was because researchers found that homosexual couples were more likely to adopt children that didn't appeal to heterosexual couples. This is includes children that behavioral problems, children that are HIV positive and also older children. Those children that are not adopted are cared for by the State, and this can place a financial burden as they fall under foster care, a system which is draining on government funds.

As same sex adoption is still a controversial issue, progress is still ongoing but moving along. Same sex couples have to look into the laws and regulations where they live and explore all the options to them.