Major New Resource on Adoption by Lesbian and Gay Parents

The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute has just released a major new 69-page report, “Expanding Resources for Children III: Research-Based Best Practices in Adoption by Gays and Lesbians.” While the report is intended for adoption professionals and policy makers, I urge you to read at least the press release, if not the Executive Summary (PDF). It’s a great new resource that compiles previous information, incorporates findings from new studies, and makes recommendations for policy and practice changes to benefit the many children who need permanent homes.

Here, for example, are some useful facts from the Institute’s previous work:

• Lesbians and gay men adopt at significant rates, with over 65,000 adopted and 14,000 foster children in the U.S. residing in homes headed by non-heterosexuals. Children growing up in such households show similar patterns of adjustment as those raised by heterosexuals.
• At least 60% of U.S. adoption agencies accept non-heterosexual parental applicants, and almost 40% have knowingly placed children with them — meaning almost any lesbian, gay man, or same-sex couple can find a professional to work with them.

And here are some fascinating new findings:

• About one-third of the adoptions by lesbians and gay men were “open,” and the birth families’ initial reactions regarding sexual orientation were very positive (73%). Interestingly, male couples more often reported having been chosen because of their sexual orientation than did lesbians, explaining that the birthmothers expressed a desire to remain the child’s “only mother.”
• Over 10% of the children adopted were 6 or older — a population generally perceived as more difficult to place — and 25% were at least 3 years old. Interestingly, the household incomes of respondents were high — and more so for the male parents, $212,380 vs. $115,467, indicating (among other things) that more lesbians adopted as individuals and more gay men as couples.

The report recommends, among other things: 

• Remove legal and cultural barriers so that all qualified, vetted prospective parents can be considered, notably including the passage of “gay marriage” laws, because the social institution of marriage brings clear long-term psychological (and other benefits) to children.
• Provide training, recruitment and educational tools to increase professional competence for working with non-heterosexual parents, and offer pre- and post-placement services to better enable those parents to deal with adoption issues and those relating to their sexual orientation.

The report incorporates many of the findings in the brand-new book Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men: A New Dimension in Family Diversity, ed. by Adam Pertman and David Brodzinsky of the Institute. I did a full review of it for my latest Mombian newspaper column. It is an academic book, chock full of studies by professionals in social welfare, psychology, sociology, and law—but worth knowing of as a reference, even if you don’t read it all yourself. (If you have any academic leanings whatsoever, I do recommend diving into it, as it contains much more information and insight than I could stuff into my review. At least get your local library to stock a copy.)

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