This question comes from the legislation being passed in Canada recognizing same sex marriages. Someone at my work mentioned that one of the reasons people lobbied for it was to enable same sex couples to adopt and raise children. First, is that true? I mean, is it illegal and forbidden for a single adult to adopt a child? And if it is, why? We do see several single parents bringing up their children without any problems to anyone. So if single parents are capable of bringing up children, why should adoption by a single parent not allowed.
And if adoption by single parent is allowed then why do same sex couple need to “marrry” to allow them to adopt. Can they not just live together and adopt?
It depends on state law. Some states may prohibit gay adoption. Arkansas is trying to do so right now.
As to why, well, I don’t think that’s a topic that can be best covered in this forum.
–Cliffy
Well, one of the key issues is joint adoption by a gay couple. The fear is that if both halves of the couple aren’t on the adoption papers, there could be serious problems if one of the partners dies.
Example: Tom and Rick are raising two children in a state that allows single people to adopt children. Tom is the legal parent. Tom dies. Tom’s fundamentalist parents, who loathe Rick, swoop in and request that a court appoint them the children’s parents. They succeed, and take the children to another state, refusing to give any information to Rick.
I don’t have examples off-hand, but I’m 99% percent certain that this exact scenario has happened.
The courts look on the situation with the primary concern being what they believe to be the best interests of the child – taking into account propinquity, ability to support, capacity for caring and for discipline, etc. In general, the standard is that two-person heterosexual couples are vastly favored in adoptions, as providing both fatherhood and motherhood and role models of each sex. (Note that we are not here discussing whether that standard is accurate, which would be a debate, but rather the pragmatic fact of what is in fact the general standard.)
Many states permit single-parent adoption; I don’t think it’s forbidden anywhere, though it’s often disfavored, and in some areas will be nearly always awarded only to a single or widowed grandparent, aunt or uncle on the death of parents.
There are controversial and contradictory studies supporting the ability or lack of ability of a single parent to provide adequate nurture and guidance to a child, especially one of opposite sex. ISTM that this is a case of “take any position, and someone will have documentation supporting tht position.”
You may find some highly negative comments from your use of quotation marks around “marry” – same-sex couples marry for exactly the same reasons as opposite-sex couples (with the notable exception of “shotgun marriages” owing to the prospect of a child). That may or may not include the desire for children, based on individual wishes.
As covered already, these things vary state to state. My wife has worked 10 years for California as an adoptions social worker. In this state, “propinquity, ability to support, capacity for caring and for discipline, etc” are the predominant factors considered in adoptions. Whether or not there is both a motherhood and fatherhood role models present in the home and whether or not the couple is gay or lesbian do not make the petitioners any less favorable than a heterosexual couple. There’s so many kids that are in need of permanent homes in this state, that the folks working in “the system” are happy to adopt to anyone that’s a decent human being and willing to take on the life-long commitment of raising a child. Unfortunately, there’s troglodytes running things in other states that don’t consider same-sex couples as decent folks, and the kids suffer IMHO.
Point taken. I’m reading a fictional work, based loosely on a real-life incident, in which a single man in California is adopting a homeless boy whom he ended up fostering through a bizarre set of circumstances. However, I threw a lot of weasel words like “in general” into my post to try to cover the cross-section of America. I could have written about North Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and New York, four states for which I have at least a vague idea of the standards. But I tried to take the entire 50-state panoply and generalize with appropriate disclaimer phrases.
As always, the answer depends on the law in force in a particular jurisdiction. In most Canadian provinces, adoption is not restricted solely to married couples. The provincial and territorial Legislatures have been expanding adoption laws over the past decade, even before the recent cases on same-sex marriage. So it doesn’t look as if the sole reason for pushing for same-sex marriage is to obtain adoption rights, at least not in Canada.
Here’s the current state of the law in the various Canadian provinces and territories, from this article:
Note that the summary of the law in Alberta answers the last question from the OP: in Alberta, it doesn’t appear that a same-sex couple would be able to adopt a child who is unrelated to both of the partners, unlike a married couple.
As always, the answer depends on the law in force in a particular jurisdiction. In most Canadian provinces, adoption is not restricted solely to married couples. The provincial and territorial Legislatures have been expanding adoption laws over the past decade, even before the recent cases on same-sex marriage. So it doesn’t look as if the sole reason for pushing for same-sex marriage is to obtain adoption rights, at least not in Canada.
Here’s the current state of the law in the various Canadian provinces and territories, from this article:
Note that the summary of the law in Alberta answers the last question from the OP: in Alberta, it doesn’t appear that a same-sex couple would be able to adopt a child who is unrelated to one of the partners, unlike a married couple who can do so.