Paper Summary:

The paper discusses the arguments against allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt, that are based primarily on religious reasons and on the contention that growing up under two same sex parents will be damaging to the natural psychological and biological development of the child. The paper then presents research that children can lead normal and healthy lives without the every day influence of both genders working together and they can thrive without a heterosexual environment. The paper also notes the benefits of adoption for the couple to achieve a relatively normal family life. The paper strongly contends that gay and lesbian couples can offer millions of orphaned children the luxury of a happy home and truly caring parents.

From the Paper:

"The process and statutes involved in same sex adoption policies vary greatly from state to state as well as within the minds and opinions of Americans across the country. Before a major taboo, the practice has become more common with less state restrictions across the United States. In cases where the states allow legal marriage between same sex partners, adoption laws are easier for same sex couples. Being legally married provides benefits within the adoption process that help the couple beyond the simple civil unions seen in other states where same sex marriage is not yet a legal practice; "The legal definition of marriage does not exist in isolation; changing it alters many areas of the law. For example, the definition of marriage plays an important role in the law of adoption, education, employee benefits, employment discrimination, government contracts and subsidies, taxation, tort law, and trusts and estates," (Severino 2007:941). Thus, states such as Vermont, where gay marriage is a legal practice, allow for an easier process during a gay or lesbian couple's path towards adoption. However, this does not prohibit all gay and lesbian couples living in states with legal restrictions on same sex marriage from adopting as well, the process is just made more complicated."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Avery, Alison; Chase, Justin; Johansson, Linda; Litvak, Samantha; Montero, Darrel & Wydra, Michael. (2007). America's changing attitudes toward homosexuality, civil unions, and same-gender marriage: 1977-2004. Social Work. 52(1):71-83.
• Clinton, Kate. (2006). Reading between the Holy lines. The Progressive. 70(5):39.
• Committee on Sex and Law and Committee on Civil Rights. (2004). Report on marriage rights for same-sex couples in New York: The Association of the Bar of the City of New York Committee on Lesbian and Gay Rights, Committee on Sex and Law and Committee on Civil Rights. Colombia Journal of Gender and Law. 13(1):70-85.
• Severino, Roger. (2007). Or for poorer? How same-sex marriage threatens religious liberty. Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. 30(3):939-945.
• Somerville, Margaret. (2007). Children's human rights and unlinking child-parent and unlinking child-parent biological bonds with adoption, same-sex marriage, and new reproductive technologies. Journal of Family Studies. 13(2):179-191.

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