Study Urges Expansion of Same-Sex Adoptions

A study released this week by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute concludes that "adoptions by gays and lesbians holds promise as an avenue for achieving permanency for many of the waiting children in foster care."

The study represents one of the broadest ever conducted on gay and lesbian adoption and parenting. The conclusions of the report were based upon findings that children raised by gay and lesbian parents are comparable to those raised by heterosexual parents in terms of social and psychological adjustment. The study urges the broadening of parenting rights for gay and lesbian people in the US, most importantly as couples. Many same-sex couples understandably shy away from adoption because they are not allowed to do it together.

The findings are unsurprising considering that the American Psychological Association, the American Psychoanalytic Association, the National Association of Social Workers, and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all come to similar conclusions in the past.

But in light of the recent decision by four Catholic bishops in Massachusetts to stop participating in state adoption services because they were required to consider same-sex households, it seems useful to reinforce the findings again.