PLAYER57832 wrote:aad0906 wrote:Would love to see the law proposal that will "allow gay couples to adopt troubled children but not un-troubled children", that will surely create a lot of stir. Forgive me for not knowing but in the US are or are gay couples banned from adopting children? Or is that a state-by-state issue? Do some states allow and others prohibit? Just curious.
Adoption is generally regulated within individual states. In Florida, homosexuals can be foster parents, but cannot adopt (unless the law changed recently). They are noted for allowing a homosexual couple to foster, very successfully, several kids with AIDS.. but won't allow that couple or even one of the individuals to adopt the kids they have had for several years.
Another case highlighted Texas law, when a child was removed after a new social worker discovered that the foster parent was homosexual (this was not hidden, the other social worker thought the home was reasonable despite the homosexuality).
California, by contrast, has for years allowed homosexual adoptions.
In ALL states, adoptive parents going through any kind of agency are screened pretty well. The criteria vary.. Catholic Charities, for example, famously won't adopt out to homosexuals at all. Some adoptions don't go through an agency. A parent can generally decide to hand over their child to whomever they want.
However, one note should be added. In the US, fully healthy white babies and even fully healthy babies of other races (or mixed) are pretty much "wanted", with long waiting lists. Older kids, kids with any kind of disability, sibling groups.. they can have a hard time finding a good home. Some agencies will sort of "overlook" the restrictions if the child being adopted meets one of these criteria.
Good point, and one that I tried to point out in the OP, but probably didn't emphasise enough. A lot of folks think that adoption is something that happens with newborn kids, and tend to forget that older kids, or as you point out, kids with disabilities, siblings, etc. are in the system too.
If a gay family can provide stability, that's better than a lifetime in care.
