Alternative Families are families too!

Are you a single gay man, bisexual, or lesbian, or are you in a long-term gay relationship and dreaming of having children?

At Adopt America our goal is to help anyone who has the desire and ability to become a loving parent and the children who need them become families together. Adoption and / or surrogacy can be options for same-sex couples or individuals who want to become gay parents; many lesbians and gays choose adoption or surrogacy as a means to fulfilling their dreams of having children, and we are very open to helping make this a reality for other families. Florida and Mississippi laws do not allow gay and lesbians to adopt at this time but we’re hoping to see this change soon!

While there are often many legal issues involved and the process can be painstaking, we can help you navigate those issues and options to insure that you can create that family you are dreaming of.

There are literally thousands of potential parents and children waiting to become happy families together as a result of adoption by gay or lesbian parents, and at Adopt America we know that children can grow and develop just as happily and healthily with GLB parents as they can in families that have heterosexual parents.

In fact:

• There are already thousands of children living in gay couple households. The 2000 U.S. Census reports 33% of female same-sex couple households and 22% of male same-sex couple households already have at least one child under the age of 18 living at home.
  
  
• According to the American Psychological Association Policy Statement on exual Orientation, Parents, & Children, "there is no reliable evidence that homosexual orientation per se impairs psychological functioning. Second, beliefs that lesbian and gay adults are not fit parents have no empirical foundation."
  
  
• The American Psychological Association also states "Research suggests that sexual identities (including gender identity, gender-role behavior, and sexual orientation) develop in much the same ways among children of lesbian mothers as they do among children of heterosexual parents."
  
  
• There is no conclusive evidence that homosexuality is linked to one's environment. In other words, growing up in a gay couple household will not "make" a child gay.

And sadly, child welfare groups have reported that homes had been found for only 50,000 of the 120,000 children available for adoption in recent years.

Many lesbians and gay men are already raising children, and many more GLB people would like to have children at some point. Estimates show that two million GLB people have considered adoption. Since less than one-fifth of adoption agencies attempt to recruit adoptive parents from the GLB community, findings suggest that GLB people are an underutilized pool of potential adoptive parents.

Latest statistics from the U.S. Census 2000, the National Survey of Family Growth (2002), and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (2004) include:

• An estimated two million GLB people are interested in adopting.
  
  
• An estimated 65,500 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent.
  
  
• More than 16,000 adopted children are living with lesbian and gay parents in California, the highest number among the states.
  
  
• Gay and lesbian parents are raising four percent of all adopted children in the United States.
  
  
• Gay and lesbian parents are raising three percent of foster children in the United States.
  
  
• Between 8 and 10 million children are being raised in a gay and lesbian households.
  
  
• Same-sex couples raising adopted children are older, more educated, and have more economic resources than other adoptive parents.

There are several options that parents who wish to create alternative families may be able to pursue, and we at Adopt America are open to helping everyone explore their options and their state laws in order to make their dreams of a loving family come true. Contact Us by email or call us or text at 305-984-2154.