A new American study on gay parenting shows that more than one in three lesbians have given birth and one in six gay men have fathered or adopted a child. The report, prepared jointly by the Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law and the Urban Institute shows that an estimated 65,500 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent. In California alone more than 16,000 adopted children are living with lesbian and gay parents. The study says that gay and lesbian parents are raising 4% of all adopted children in the United States. Yet the figure could be much higher, the authors say. More than half of gay men and 41% of lesbians want to have a child. That would mean, according to the report, an estimated two million GLB people who are interested in adopting. "Our study documents that a significant number of GLB individuals and couples are raising adopted and fostered children and two million GLB people would consider adopting a child," said Gary J. Gates, Senior Research Fellow at the Williams Institute. "GLB people appear to be an under-utilized resource for child welfare agencies desperately in need of families willing to foster and perhaps adopt children who have had a rough start in life." Currently half a million children live in foster care in the United States and more than 100,000 foster children await adoption. States must recruit parents who are interested and able to foster and adopt children. Three states currently restrict GLB individuals or couples from adopting. Several states have or are considering policies that would restrict GLB people from fostering. "Same-sex couples raising adopted children are older, more educated, and have more economic resources than other adoptive parents," the report says. It also notes that adopted children with same-sex parents are younger and more likely to be foreign born. The authors also have a warning for states the currently ban gay adoption and others, like Arkansas, that are considering a ban. "Costs to individual states could range from $100,000 to $27 million. A national ban on GLB foster care could cost from $87 to $130 million." Ref: 365gay.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Wednesday, 28th March 2007 - 12:00pm