Stigma, Social Context, and Mental Health: Lbian and Gay Coupl Across the Transn to Adoptive Parenthood - PMC

Contents:

• ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAST GAY ADOPTN
• LGBT ADOPTN FACTS | GAY ADOPTN FACTS
• WHY GAY PARENTS MAY BE THE BT PARENTS
• WHAT MAK A FAY? A CLOSER LOOK AT GAY ADOPTN
• IN GOOD FAH? U.S. LEGAL BATTLE OVER GAY ADOPTN TENSIFI
• RSIA ENACTS ANTI-GAY ADOPTN BAN
• NOT THE ONN: MOSW BANS GAY PRI FOR NEXT 100 YEARS
• GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI
• STIGMA, SOCIAL CONTEXT, AND MENTAL HEALTH: LBIAN AND GAY COUPL ACROSS THE TRANSN TO ADOPTIVE PARENTHOOD
• PROCR FOR GAY COUPL LOOKG TO ADOPT

ARGUMENTS FOR AND AGAST GAY ADOPTN

What are some other important gay adoptn facts that you need to know?Whether you’re nsirg adoptn as a way to grow your fay or you’re jt terted the subject, ’s important to know as much about the procs as possible.

Dpe the challeng that existed for gay parents hopg to adopt jt 10 years ago, many children found their forever fay — through an fant adoptn or foster re adoptn — wh an LGBT uple.

LGBT ADOPTN FACTS | GAY ADOPTN FACTS

In 2007, gay and lbian parents were raisg three percent of foster children (14,000 children) the Uned Stat — on par wh the natnal statistic sayg 3 percent of the populatn is homosexual. For gay upl adoptg, the statistics actually apply to every child raised by LGBT parents — whether they’re adopted or blogilly related to their same-sex parents. Of urse, ’s important to learn more about how the same-sex adoptn procs works and to speak wh an adoptn profsnal before mtg to this procs, but the gay adoptn statistics n help you realize that you’re not alone.

WHY GAY PARENTS MAY BE THE BT PARENTS

In fact, some believe homosexual upl on average tend to be better motivated and more mted than heterosexual parents, bee they always chose to have children – unlike the around 50 percent of straight uple who stumble to parenthood by accint. While every gay uple's adoptn procs is unique, there are some standard procr and steps every adoptive parent mt go through, and facts and rourc that n be helpful when nsirg adoptn. A uple do not need to have a legally-regnized relatnship orr to pursue a send parent adoptn, which mak an appealg optn for gay upl who choose to not get married or enter to a civil unn.

Hopefully, you'll have lots of support your ner circle, but numero onle rourc ​are available for new gay and lbian parents to help your recently-expand fay to grow and flourish.

WHAT MAK A FAY? A CLOSER LOOK AT GAY ADOPTN

Dpe the fact that gay adoptn grows more monplace every day, the road ahead may be difficult and filled wh obstacl, so make sure you're both on solid footg and sure about your cisn before you start the adoptn procs. However, one-third of agenci would reject a lbian and gay uple applint, eher bee of the relig beliefs guidg the agency, a state law prohibg placement wh LGBT parents, or a policy of placg children only wh married upl.

IN GOOD FAH? U.S. LEGAL BATTLE OVER GAY ADOPTN TENSIFI

Addnally, agency heads are more likely to have negative views towards lbian and gay upl adoptg when they associate such adoptns wh greater evaluatn and support needs. There is no evince to support claims that children of lbian and gay parents are ls telligent, suffer om more problems, are ls popular, or have lower self-teem than children of heterosexual parents.

Rearch suggts that sexual inti (cludg genr inty, genr-role behavr, and sexual orientatn) velop much the same ways among children of gay and lbian parents as they do among children of heterosexual parents.

RSIA ENACTS ANTI-GAY ADOPTN BAN

While the benefs of adoptn are clear, gay adoptive parents will likely also face many of the same challeng that heterosexual adoptive parents experience: addrsg their children’s racial or cultural inty, managg birth parent relatnships an open adoptn, talkg to their child about adoptn and simply adjtg to parenthood. False Ias About Gay Adoptn’s Effects on Children: While has monly been ed as an argument agast gay and lbian adoptn, studi have shown that same-sex adoptn do not have a negative impact on children. In addn, there are no signifint differenc the velopment of genr inty and sexual orientatn between children of gay and lbian parents and children of heterosexual parents, acrdg to rearch prentg gay adoptn facts and same-sex adoptn statistics.

9), Pope Benedict lled gay marriage a threat "to the future of humany self, " cg the need for children to have heterosexual rearch on fai head by gays and lbians don't back up the dire assertns. In fact, some ways, gay parents may brg talents to the table that straight parents don' parents "tend to be more motivated, more mted than heterosexual parents on average, bee they chose to be parents, " said Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark Universy Massachetts who rearch gay and lbian parentg. "And while rearch dit that kids of gay parents show few differenc achievement, mental health, social functng and other measur, the kids may have the advantage of open-mdns, tolerance and role mols for equable relatnships, acrdg to some rearch.

) [5 Myths About Gay People Debunked]Adoptg the needitGay adoptn recently ed ntroversy Illois, where Catholic Chari adoptn servic cid November to cease offerg servic bee the state refed fundg unls the groups agreed not to discrimate agast gays and lbians. Acrdg to a 2007 report by the Williams Instute and the Urban Instute, 65, 000 kids were livg wh adoptive gay parents between 2000 and 2002, wh another 14, 000 foster hom head by gays and lbians. Donaldson Adoptn Instute found that, of gay and lbian adoptns at more than 300 agenci, 10 percent of the kids placed were olr than 6 — typilly a very difficult age to adopt out.

NOT THE ONN: MOSW BANS GAY PRI FOR NEXT 100 YEARS

More than half of the kids adopted by gays and lbians had special report didn't pare the adoptn preferenc of gay upl directly wh those of heterosexual upl, said thor David Brodzsky, rearch director at the Instute and -edor of "Adoptn By Lbians and Gay Men: A New Dimensn of Fay Diversy" (Oxford Universy Prs, 2011). Part of that uld be their own preferenc, and part uld be bee of discrimatn by adoptn agenci that puts more difficult children wh what seworkers see as "ls sirable" matter how you slice , Brodzsky told LiveScience, gays and lbians are highly terted adoptn as a group. "When you thk about the 114, 000 children who are eed for adoptn who ntue to live foster re and who are not beg readily adopted, the goal is to crease the pool of available, terted and well-traed dividuals to parent the children, " Brodzsky addn, Brodzsky said, there's evince to suggt that gays and lbians are pecially acceptg of open adoptns, where the child retas some ntact wh his or her birth parents.

GAY MOSW MOSW CY GUI

"Intertgly, we fd that a small percentage, but enough to be noteworthy, [of birth mothers] make a nsc cisn to place wh gay men, so they n be the only mother their child's life, " Brodzsky parentgRearch has shown that the kids of same-sex upl — both adopted and blogil kids — fare no worse than the kids of straight upl on mental health, social functng, school performance and a variety of other life-succs a 2010 review of virtually every study on gay parentg, New York Universy soclogist Judh Stacey and Universy of Southern California soclogist Tim Biblarz found no differenc between children raised hom wh two heterosexual parents and children raised wh lbian parents. "There's no doubt whatsoever om the rearch that children wh two lbian parents are growg up to be jt as well-adjted and succsful" as children wh a male and a female parent, " Stacey told is very ltle rearch on the children of gay men, so Stacey and Biblarz uldn't draw nclns on those fai. But Stacey spects that gay men "will be the bt parents on average, " she 's a speculatn, she said, but if lbian parents have to really plan to have a child, 's even harr for gay men.

[6 Genr Myths Bted]Nurturg toleranceIn fact, the only nsistent plac you fd differenc between how kids of gay parents and kids of straight parents turn out are issu of tolerance and open-mdns, acrdg to Goldberg. "The dividuals feel like their perspectiv on fay, on genr, on sexualy have largely been enhanced by growg up wh gay parents, " Goldberg 33-year-old man wh a lbian mother told Goldberg, "I feel I'm a more open, well-round person for havg been raised a nontradnal fay, and I thk those that know me would agree.

"In her rearch, Goldberg has found that many children of gay and lbian parents say that more acceptance of gay and lbian fai, not ls, would help solve this a study published onle Jan. 11, 2012, the Journal of Marriage and Fay, Goldberg terviewed another group of 49 teenagers and young adults wh gay parents and found that not one of them rejected the right of gays and lbians to marry.

STIGMA, SOCIAL CONTEXT, AND MENTAL HEALTH: LBIAN AND GAY COUPL ACROSS THE TRANSN TO ADOPTIVE PARENTHOOD

On October 14, the Uned Stat Supreme Court cled to review a challenge by the Liberty Counsel about the Florida Bar’s amic brief support of Mart Gill, a gay man who sought to adopt his two foster children. But Gill isn’t a typil prospective parent the ey of feral law–he is a gay man seekg to adopt Florida, the only state the untry that has an outright ban on adoptg to homosexual parents. Child psychology experts ttified that there was no scientific evince that would support the state’s ban on gay adoptn, and that would be the children’s bt terts if they stayed wh Gill and his partner.

When Judge Lerman led the state ban unnstutnal and granted adoptn rights to Gill, the se was seen as a huge tone for gay and lbian prospective parents Florida, and for LGBT rights activists worldwi. A recent survey showed that there are 250, 000 children the Uned Stat livg wh gay and lbian parents, acrdg to Lambda Legal, a natnal anizatn dited to protectg the rights of the LGBT muny as well as those wh AIDS and HIV. Compare the figur to a 2005 CBS/New York Tim poll, where only 23% of terviewe believed that gays should marry, and 41% said that there should be no legal regnn of gay upl.

Donaldson Adoptn Instute’s David Brodzsky, 60% of more than 300 public and private agenci natnwi were willg to accept applitns om gay and lbian parents a 2003 study he nducted.

PROCR FOR GAY COUPL LOOKG TO ADOPT

In the Gill and Lofton s, anizatns like the Liberty Counsel, Amerin College of Pediatricians, and the Christian Coaln exprsed rervatns urt about allowg gay and lbian people to adopt.

CWLA filed amic briefs for both Lofton’s and Gill’s s, cg that the ban on gay adoptive parents go agast well-tablished child welfare polici, sayg every prospective fay mt be screened on an dividual basis, to make sure they match the needs of the child. CWLA’s posn statement wh regard to gay and lbian adoptn reads that “lbian, gay, and bisexual parents are as well sued to raise children as their heterosexual unterparts.

If the sexual orientatn of the parents was what would terme the sexual orientatn of the children, then prumably we won’t have so many gay children growg up heterosexual hom. “Anytime a child n grow up a home where they have the love of parents… and n gui them and help them get off to a good start life, that n be a good thg…whether a homosexual environment or a heterosexual environment, ” he says. His two- study on gay parents and their children is nsistent wh Berl’s studi and nclus that there is no empiril evince that would suggt that children growg up wh gay parents would negatively impact their well-beg.