Difficulties in having Children of Homosexual Couples Nguyet Tran

Canadian photographer Lindsay Foster captured this amazing photo of new dads BJ Barone and Frankie Nelson holding their baby, Milo, for the first time.

Introduction Nowadays, same sex marriage can be accepted in 25 states of U.S regarding to the statistics of Gay Marriage Web. According to the Williams Institute, biological, adopted or step-children are rising in same-sex couples. For example Mississippi (26%), Wyoming (25%), Alaska (23%), Idaho (22%), and Montana (22%).

First difficulty They have in adoption children is prohibition in Laws of some States in U.S such as: Seven states—Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Utah (have prohibited same-sex couples from second parent adoptions); Mississippi, Utah, and Michigan (not allowed adopting any children). In addition, some countries like Russian also don’t allow LGBT people to adopt children from their country.

The second difficulty The discrimination that LGBT people face in family law, education, employment, health care, and children’s service—whether real or perceived—sometimes pressures LGBT couples to “overachieve” as model parents, which can also place stress on their children (Wexelbaum).

The second difficulty (cont’) The lack of legal recognition for a nonbiological parent has a profound impact both on internal family dynamics and on the way the family is integrated into their community and extended families. The anxiety may be enormous for a parent who invests his heart and soul in a child with the ever present danger that this child could be taken from him in an instant if the legal parent died. Grandparents may not want to get deeply involved with a child to whom they have no legal ties. Employers may not offer family leave or recognize family emergencies. Insurance will not cover the child of a nonlegal parent (Martin).

The third difficulty Economy is also a difficult thing for LGBT family in raising their children. According to statistics of Gates and information of Wexelbaum, LGBT is one of groups live near the poverty line more than heterosexual families.

The third difficulty (cont’) the ability of lesbian and gay parents to provide just as adequately as heterosexual parents for the social and emotional health of their children has been documented repeatedly in the research literature. Over two dozen studies have found that children raised by gay and lesbian parents were indistinguishable from children raised by heterosexuals. In order to interface effectively with these families, however, to truly meet their needs in this culture, we have to go beyond a tolerance for their alternative format. We need instead to radically discard the Mom-and-Dad nuclear model as any kind of standard. We must accept the premise that it is quality of care, and not family constellation, which determines what is optimal for children's healthy development. We must further learn to identify who actually is and isn't a family member based on the loving bonds of responsibility that have been both intended and fulfilled, and not on any biological, legal, or conventional definitions of what is a family.

Conclusion There are some difficulties which homosexual couples usually have when they have either adoption or biological children.  However, in addition to making the complex decisions about how to define who the intended parents will be and how to go about accessing adoption and donor insemination options, these homosexual parents also do careful reviews of all their parenting concerns: questioning whether they have the resources of time, money, maturity, skills, stability of relationship, physical health, and stamina necessary to be good parents. It would be ideal, of course, if every child in the world were born to a family that prepared so responsibly.

Cited works Gates, Gary J. “LGBT Parenting in the United States.” The Williams Institute. February 2013. Web. 12 July 2013. “25 States with Legal Gay Marriage and 25 States with Same-Sex Marriage Bans.” Gay Marriage Pros and Cons. 08 October 2014. Web. 08 October 2014. Wexelbaum, R. “LGBT parenting.” Salem Press Encyclopedia. September 2013. Web. 08 October 2014. Martin, April. “Issues for Lesbians – and Gay – Parented Families”. Parenthood in America. 1998. Web. 28 November 2014.