SOC 2630 EPORTFOLIO

BY ASHREN OLARTE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Reflection Page
Gay Parents Effects on Children Article
LGBT Adoption Advantages Article
Households with Children in the U.S. Table
Gay Adoption Public Support Chart
Radical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and Their Children in the United
States since World War II Book Summary
Gay Fathers, Their Children, and the Making of Kinship Book Summary
Works Cited

REFLECTION PAGE
The topic I chose for this reflection paper is gay
marriage and the affects this has on adoption.
Since same-sex couples aren't able to
reproduce (of course, they are working on a
procedure for this topic as well), many times,
they look to adopt to start a family. With gay
marriage being legalized, adoption will
definitely have an impact with this change. As
more same-sex get married, they will
eventually want to start families, and look into
adoption. I believe this will be a benefit allaround for both the couples and the children.
Families will be created, but of course there's
the factor of being "different" from "traditional"
families. Nonetheless, I believe this will be a
positive correlation.

Although there are still restrictions on gay couples

adopting children, research shows that there are 16
states that definitely allow joint gay adoptions.
There are about 10 states that allow second parent
adoptions, and 16 states that have had success in
second parent adoptions. Second parent adoptions
are when one person adopts their partner's child.
The 2 most restrictive states are Mississippi and
Utah. I believe that there are still restrictions to gay
couples adopting because it isn't the "ideal" family
dynamic. Society believes that children who have
gay or lesbian parents may insinuate their sexual
orientation to be like their parents. There is no
correlation to a child's sexual orientation based on
their parents' sexual orientation. "Good parenting is
not influenced by sexual orientation"
(lifelongadoptions.com).
Statistics show that 4% of adopted children in the
United States are being raised by gay and lesbian
parents. There is said to be a shortage of adoptive
parents and children are better to be raised in
adoptive families, gay or straight, than to live in
foster care systems. Preventing a same-sex couple
to adopt and start a family is discrimination.
Because having gay and lesbian parents aren't
"normal", people are basically saying that those
couples can't adopt because it would affect the child
psychologically, but there is no study in correlation

GAY PARENTS EFFECTS ON CHILDREN

2000 Census states about 34.3% of lesbian couples and 23.3% of gay male couples were raising children.
Considerations:
A report states most children who have at least one gay parent were born within a heterosexual relationship
that still exists or has ended.
Many children of gay parents are also affected by their biological parents separation.
Gay Parents vs. Heterosexual Parents:
No difference shown with lesbian mothers and heterosexual mothers.
Studies show lesbian mothers are more committed to finding male role models for children than divorced
heterosexual mothers.
More similarities than differences with parenting styles of gay and heterosexual fathers.
False Speculations:
No differences in a childs gender identity or gender role behaviors whether they have gay or heterosexual
parents.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says children with gay parents are more willing to consider having a
same-sex partner.
They arent more likely to identify as homosexuals.
Childrens Well-Being:
Sexual orientation of a childs parents have no effect on their emotional, behavioral, or psychosocial
adjustment.
Conscientious and nurturing adults can make excellent parents regardless of sexual orientation or gender.
They should receive equal rights, benefits, and protections of civil marriage to boost their strength as
parents.
Tips for Gay Parents:

LGBT ADOPTION ADVANTAGES

Many gay couples, especially those offering themselves as adoptive parents, form more stable relationships than many
heterosexual marriages.
Gives adopted children a secure emotional home.
Children that grow up in same-sex households will be more sympathetic to differences and more likely to believe in equality for
all.
Children raised in a same-sex household are show to be more open minded about different lifestyles than children who are
raised in the traditional opposite sex households.
Today, with many children are raised by single parents, a couple disadvantages are lower educational achievements and poor
behavior, gay couples offer adopted children two full-time parents.
Lesbian couples are can have children through artificial insemination.
The record is that such couples provide loving homes and raise well-balanced children.
Preventing gay men and lesbians from becoming 'parents' is discrimination, based on sexual orientation, which would not be
acceptable in other contexts such as employment.
There is a shortage of adoptive parents.
The 'family', whether gay or straight, is better than the foster-care system.
Good parenting is not influenced by sexual orientation, but by a parents ability to create a loving and nurturing home .
This ability that does not depend on whether a parent is gay or straight.
Same-sex relationships have been proven to be more stable than heterosexual relationships, setting a better example for the
child.
How to have a healthy, stable, relationship.
Two good parents are better than one good parent, gender makes no difference.
If having parents of the same-gender does disadvantage kids in any way, it has nothing to do with their parent's gender and
everything to do with society's reaction toward the family.
Affection and nurturing qualities are more common with peers amongst children who have been raised in a same-sex
household, compared to children growing up in heterosexual households.
An advantage posed on the child involved, may be the ability to overcome huge obstacles, stand firm in the face of adversity
and make decisions based on emotion and love rather than firm facts.
Children raised in same-sex households are more apt to think outside of the societal box.

Households with Children in the U.S.

Married Opposite-Sex
Couples

Unmarried Opposite-Sex
Couples

Same-Sex Couples

Households with
children

22,872,151

2,267,016

94,627

Biological only

90.80%

88%

72.80%

Step only or adopted

only

4.40%

5.20%

21.20%

Combination

4.80%

6.80%

6%

Gay Adoption Public Support

8
%

39
%

53
%

Support
Oppose
Unsure

RADICAL RELATIONS: LESBIAN MOTHERS, GAY FATHERS, AND

THEIR CHILDREN IN THE UNITED STATES SINCE WORLD WAR II
Summary: Radical Relations offers the untold story of the American
family. Its the first history of lesbian and gay parents and their
children in the United States. The time period is during the
beginning of the postwar era. This time period marked changes and
repression for lesbians and gay men. The author, Daniel Winunwe
Rivers claims that by forming new kinds of family relations, gay and
lesbian parents had successfully tested legal and cultural definitions
of family as heterosexual. Based on research and interviews, the
book includes stories of lesbian mothers and gay fathers in the
1950s, lesbian and gay parental activist networks and custody
battles, families struggling with the AIDS epidemic, and children
growing up in lesbian feminist communities. The author also refers
to changes in gay and lesbian parenthood in the 1980s and 1990s
brought up by the increased awareness of insemination
technologies and changes in custody and adoption law.

GAY FATHERS, THEIR CHILDREN, AND THE MAKING OF KINSHIP

Summary: Gay Fathers, Their Children, and the Making of Kinship
is based on ten years of fieldwork with gay families living in the
rural, suburban, and urban area of the eastern United States. The
book presents a well written and a carefully claimed study of
cultures and people of gay men and the families they have
formed. The author, Aaron Goodfellow, questions the fact of
whether signing legal contracts and the public performances of
care can replace biological birth as the one event marking the
creation of fathers in a culture that places the finest on biology as
the founding event of paternity. The book consists of four
chapters with each chapter presenting a particular image of
paternity. Goodfellow shows how fatherhood for gay men draws
on established biological, theological, and legal images of the
family that are often thought oppressive to the emergence of
queer forms of social life. With each researched case carefully
chosen, he examines gay fatherhood through life narratives. He
chooses to focus specifically on gay fathers to produce an
account of study from where the origins of how paternity,
sexuality, and masculinity are leveled in relations of care between
gay fathers and their children.

WORKS CITED
http://www.lifelongadoptions.com/lgbt-adoption/lgbtadoption-advantages

http://www.livestrong.com/article/156339-gay-parents-e
ffects-on-children/
http://
www.lifelongadoptions.com/lgbt-adoption/lgbt-adoptionstatistics

http://www.galperlaw.com/gay-law-report/gay-adoptionstatistics
/
https://
www.questia.com/library/120087227/gay-fathers-theirchildren-and-the-making-of-kinship
https://
www.questia.com/library/120081692/radical-relationslesbian-mothers-gay-fathers