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Demographics of Gay and Lesbian Adoption and Family Policies

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Book cover International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality

Part of the book series: International Handbooks of Population ((IHOP,volume 5))

Abstract

This chapter explores demographic factors related to gay male and lesbian adoptions, and corresponding family policies. First, I provide background on adoption law and policy. This history and background will summarize the current state of law in the U.S., with a comparison to gay and lesbian adoption policy elsewhere in the world. The second half of the chapter draws on both survey and census data to examine policy issues surrounding same-sex adoption. I first examine the prevalence of adopted children in same-sex households in the United States, using census data. Next, I present survey data exploring the acceptance of same-sex adoptions, using two national surveys: The National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle 6 (2002) and the Evan Donaldson National Survey. These surveys sampled the informal acceptance of adoption for both placing agencies and the general female population of child-bearing age in the U.S.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1999); the American Academy of Pediatrics (2002); the American Bar Association (1999, 2003); the American Psychoanalytic Association (2002); the American Psychological Association (2004); the Child Welfare League of America (2006); the National Association of Social Workers (2002); and the North American Council on Adoptable Children (2005)

  2. 2.

    Policy Statement of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

    All decisions relating to custody and parental rights should rest on the interest of the child. There is no evidence to suggest or support that parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender are per se different from or deficient in parenting skills, child-centered concerns, and parent-child attachments when compared with heterosexual parents. There is no basis on which to assume that a parent’s sexual orientation or gender identity will adversely affect the development of the child.

    Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender individuals historically have faced more rigorous scrutiny than heterosexual people regarding their rights to be or become parents. The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry opposes any discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity against individuals in regard to their rights as custodial, foster, or adoptive parents.

  3. 3.

    The NSAP was a follow-up survey to the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health. The NSAP surveyed 2,089 households who had adopted children, up to age 17, between 1990/1992 and 2007/2008 (Bramlett et al. 2010; Vandivere et al. 2009).

  4. 4.

    This cycle had a response rate of 79% for males and 78% for females, and a total of 12,571 interviews, including 7,643 women aged 15–44, and 4,928 men.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology Department, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA

    Mary Ann Davis

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  1. Mary Ann Davis
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Correspondence to Mary Ann Davis .

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  1. Dept. Sociology, University of Houston, Philip Hoffman Hall 450, Houston, 77204, Texas, USA

    Amanda K. Baumle

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Davis, M.A. (2013). Demographics of Gay and Lesbian Adoption and Family Policies. In: Baumle, A. (eds) International Handbook on the Demography of Sexuality. International Handbooks of Population, vol 5. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5512-3_19

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