What's Best for Children: Same Sex Adoption

What's Best for the Children: Same Sex Adoption

Since the dawn of time, it was believed that men and women were to engage in holy matrimony and produce offspring. However, this concept has changed in recent years, and the idea of homosexuality has become the morally controversial topic of discussion across the globe. One issue that Americans are currently debating is if allowing homosexuals to adopt children should be considered a human right, or that this idea is forcing youth into an unnatural lifestyle that will cause psychological damage. Personally, I feel that gay couples should be given the right to adopt children. It is clear that the fight against same sex adoption has been more about gay discrimination than the actual welfare of the children.

A compelling argument supporting gay adoption is that it would provide thousands of orphans with homes. There is currently a shortage of individuals who want to adopt orphans and excluding gay people does not mean that more children will be placed with happily married heterosexual couples. Due to this shortage, thousands of children are left with no family at all or placed in the "foster care shuffle" where they are continuously moved between temporary houses. Living in these conditions tend to enhance emotional problems, substance abuse, delinquency, and academic issues. If gay adoption was legalized the children would be saved from the foster care system and be given the opportunity to prosper within a household they can actually call their family.

Another influential opinion regarding same sex adoption is that the homosexual couple will be able to provide the children with an economically and emotionally stable household. About one third of foster children are placed in single parent homes. Financially, two parents, homosexual or heterosexual, tend to have a higher household income than that of a single parent. Therefore, the gay couple could potentially provide a better education, support system, and overall lifestyle than that of the single parent. In addition, gay couples will be able to give the child the opportunity to live in a nurturing home with parents who love them and provide an environment they can succeed in. There is no evidence that proves that children of gay parents will have psychological issues and be at a disadvantage compared to the children of straight parents. In fact, children of gay couples tend to grow up the same as the children of straight parents, but with more acceptance and understanding of "what is different." Good parenting is not based on an individual's sexual orientation; instead it is influenced most by a parent's ability to provide a loving and caring home.

Legally, denying individuals of adopting a child based on their sexual orientation is discrimination. Since there are anti-discrimination laws protecting the rights of gay people for issues like employment then they should be applied to gay adoption too. The U.S Constitution Amendment XIV states, "no state