A recent policy by the American Academy of Pediatrics said same-sex couples should be allowed to adopt children, citing their ability to provide as stable a household as heterosexual couples.
The policy, released Monday, focuses on gaining legally protected parental rights for gay parents whose partners have children and for couples who wish to adopt a child. The policy was based on a report by the academy’s Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health.
Professor Edward Goldson from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center said the report was based on studies that examined safety issues with children of same-sex couples.
“This has no legal authority,” he said. “It just says that from the academy’s perspective, same-sex couples will go through the same criteria and will not be discriminated against.”
Goldson, a member of the Elk Grove Village, Ill.-based academy and the committee that made the policy, said children can be raised in a healthy environment regardless of parents’ sexual orientation.
“Sexual orientation does not necessarily dictate competence for a couple to be able to raise a child,” he said. “There are many heterosexual people who are having children and certainly shouldn’t be raising them. The thrust of what the committee is trying to do is help get children adopted with people who would be good parents.”
The policy was written in response to couples being denied parental rights and health insurance if the family’s breadwinner is a gay parent. Also, if a gay couple separates, or one partner dies, they are more likely to lose visitation or custody battles.
Psychology junior Aaron Beasley, a member of the Alliance of Lesbian-Bi-Gay-Transgendered and Straight Ally Students said he agrees with the decision.
“It’s a good idea because it helps break down stereotypes that a family unit can only be a mother and father and children,” he said. “It helps to show that anyone with a loving heart who wants to take care of a child should be able to.”
But Gary Glenn, state director of the American Family Association of Michigan, based in Midland, said his organization disagrees with homosexual adoption.
“The academy’s position is obviously politically driven and ignores repeated studies that indicate negative consequences of children being raised by two individuals involved in homosexual behavior,” he said. “They are being raised in an environment where the risk of domestic violence, mental illness and premature death are dramatically increased.”
Aimee Gelnaw, executive director of Family Pride Coalition in Washington, D.C., said her organization supports education and advocacy for LBGT parents. She has a child from a previous marriage and adopted her partner’s daughter in 1997.
“It’s very important for us to be able to keep our children and families safe so that the same kinds of rights and protection are given to ourselves and kids, such as insurance and social security benefits, and the capacity for both parents to care for and make decisions regarding the child’s health. We need to have a structure in place to keep the best interests of our child at heart.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
