NEW YORK– Despite laws in some states that impede the practice, a growing number of lesbians and gay men are adopting children in the United States – at least half of them providing families for boys and girls from foster care and 60 percent adopting transracially, according to the results of an extensive new survey by the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute.
The survey was part of a broad, four-year-long research project by the Adoption Institute that culminated in the publication of a 69-page report, Expanding Resources for Children III: Research-Based Best Practices in Adoption by Gays and Lesbians, which provides important new information about and insights into the perceptions, experiences and needs of non-heterosexual adoptive parents.
“We know the majority of adoption agencies readily work with gay and lesbian clients, and our research shows that most want guidance about how best to do that,” said Adam Pertman, executive director of the Adoption Institute. “Our hope and belief is that by providing greater knowledge to professionals, policy-makers and the public, the result will be more families for the children who need them.”
Major findings in the Institute’s report include:
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 percent). 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.”
More than 10 percent of the children adopted were 6 or older – a population generally perceived as more difficult to place – and 25 percent were at least 3 years old.
