Essay on Second-Parent Adoption: Securing the Future of Same-Sex Couple's Kids

Introduction

The children who are born to or adopted by one member of a same-sex couple deserve the security accorded to those children hailing from two legally recognized parents. The American Academic of Pediatrics supports the legislative and legal efforts to provide the possibility of adoption of the child by the second parent or co-parent in these households. In the US, several states have implemented legislation ratifying second-parent adoption by partners of the same sex. For example, law ratifying civil unions in Vermont, whereby gay couples intending to adopt children would be given maximum security, and permanence (Ritter 339). The challenge is that many states have not yet recognized legislative actions to ensure the security of children being raised by homosexual couples. The paper will provide detailed facts supporting the choice of child adoption by gay partners.

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Second-parent adoption safeguards the child's right to preserve ongoing relationships with both parents. The legal context provided by parent adoption accomplishes the following: It ensures the child's eligibility for health benefits from both gay parents. It offers legal grounds for either parent to provide consent for medical care and to take important roles like educating the child and making other important decisions on behalf of the child. It also guarantees that the co-parents custody rights and responsibilities will be safeguarded if the first parents were to succumb or become incapacitated. It protects the second parent's rights to custody and visitation if the couples separate. Finally, create the basis for financial security for children in the event of the death of either parent (Ritter 339).

Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Relationship

The past discourse legal and political debate over allowing same-sex couples to marry has centered on whether they should adopt children and be considered as parents (Gates 67). After carefully, analyzing the clues presented in the article, Gary Gates concludes that gay couples are as good at parenting as their heterosexual counterparts, only that religious leaders use biblical teachings to disregard them (Gates 68). Any discrepancies in the wellbeing of children raised in same-sex families and different-sex households can be analyzed not by their parent's gender composition, but by the fact that children being nurtured by gay couples have, on average experienced more family instability. Gary Gates is emphasizing on the need for more states to initiate a legal framework that supports the adoption process and benefits to same-sex couples (Gates 68).

Impacts on LGBT Relationships and Families

Social norms and legal frameworks impact how we live our lives. As society has begun to treat same-sex couples more like heterosexual couples, the discrepancies between the two groups have narrowed (Gates 69). Currently, more children being raised by gay couples were born to heterosexual parents. This pattern is changing, but in ways In the 2010 US census, the number of same-sex couples stood at 650,000, and it had doubled from 340,000 in the previous census. Gary Gates states that the evidence of economic challenges among same-sex couples with children is high because same-sex couple's parents report higher rates of unemployment due to the stigma they face than heterosexual couples (Gates 71-72). There is increasing call for states to ensure that they provide support to over 19 percent of gay couples who are raising children below 18 years.

Works Cited

Ritter, Michael J. "Adoption by Same-Sex Couples: Public Policy Issues in Texas Law & Practice." Tex. J. on CL & CR 15 (2009): 235.

Gates, Gary J. "Marriage and family: LGBT individuals and same-sex couples." The Future of Children (2015): 67-87. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1079373.pdf