Should Same Sex Couples be Allowed to Adopt?

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Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person’s biological or legal parent or parents. These adoptions are usually between both a married male and female. I disagree with this. I think that adoptions should be expanded to same sex couples because like a heterosexual couple they can provide this child with the same nurturing, care and love that a child needs to survive in life.

There are 3,700 children in foster care in Mississippi; 148 of these children are waiting for adoptive families. With the removal of laws banning same sex couples to adopt children this number could be drastically reduced. A child does not see sexual orientation, they will see the love that these two people are giving them. By legalizing adoption these children will have a chance to become a part of a forever family that will give them love and other necessities that are needed. That child did not ask to be placed in foster care. Some children never receive that chance of being adopted. They are bounced from foster home to foster home for eighteen years of their lives never receiving that fulfillment of being in a family. In my opinion, that is not the way a person should have to live their lives.

I could not fathom the pain that same sex couples feel when their applications are denied because they were born into a certain social group. How can America predict the lives that these kids will have solely based on the lives that their parents live? Imagine you are in foster care and you’re nine-years-old and you find out that you are going to your fifth foster home within the past four years. A same sex couple by the name of Jack and Tom are willing to adopt you, Jack is a neurosurgeon and Tom is a small business owner. Both Jack and Tom are willing to sacrifice everything to give a child a forever home, but due to laws placed in legislation they are not able to adopt. Now you will go back into foster care for another two maybe three years.

I know that certain things have given the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community a negative image, but every person in the LGBT community does not conduct themselves in a negative way. We can not use those images to stop two loving people from giving a child a loving home in a safe environment. I do realize that in some situations certain same sex couples are not stable enough to adopt children, but this does not give legislators the right to stop every same sex couple from completing their loving homes. There are thousands of orphans in the state of Mississippi waiting for adoption, but with the current laws against same sex adoption these children will not have that loving forever home. These couples would be able to provide shelter, family and love. The needs of the kids should be the first thing people look at before anything else.

Same-sex couples raising adopted children are older, more educated, and have more economic resources than other adoptive parents. Many people believe that same-sex couples should not be able to adopt. This is because they think these couples will have a negative influence on the child’s life. Most think that these kids will grow up to be gay or lesbian like their parents, but has anyone ever stopped to think that the way a person’s parents are does not mean they will be that way. If a person’s parents were the deciding factor of their sexual orientation, how can a heterosexual couple raise a gay or lesbian child? The children will learn that gender or a biological relationship isn’t what makes a family. A family is made through love, care and support. Like heterosexual couples same-sex couples can provide this for their families as well.

Same-sex couple are like heterosexual couples. Yet it isn’t as easy for same-sex couples to adopt as it is for regular couples. After same-sex couples face trouble from society they still fight each and everyday to have the same equal rights. Even though it’s not the same as having a woman and a man as parents, there will be the same love and that’s really all that matters when it comes to children. Allowing same-sex couples to adopt is a remarkable step towards LGBT equality.

Overall, both heterosexual and same-sex couples should have the same equal rights to adopt a child. No child should have to go through the constant change of foster home to foster home. Same-sex couples can give children the same love as a woman and a man could, they are helping orphans by giving them a loving home, and their is no evidence that this would ruin a child’s life. Even after the constant ridicule and struggle, same-sex couples still want to adopt to fulfill their longing dream of having a complete family. It is time that LGBT couples receive the same rights to adopt as heterosexual couples. Gay and lesbian couples should be granted the right to adopt children.