Adoption by Same-Sex Couples Those

Adoption by Same-Sex Couples

Those opposed to adoption by same-sex couples argue that children raised in same-sex-couple households suffer because they are exposed to an unnatural environment in the home that is confusing to them and potentially harmful to their psychological and social development. However, on closer examination, that argument is completely unsupportable (Henslin, 2007). That is not to suggest that there are no possible "cons" to being raised in a non-traditional home environment because, in some circumstances, there may very well be. For example, children raised by same-sex couples are more likely to encounter discrimination, prejudice, and teasing by their peers than children raised in traditional.

However, that is an extremely weak argument that shifts the blame for inappropriate prejudices onto its victims. For example, the identical argument could (and undoubtedly was at times) be made to oppose adoption by biracial couples. In both cases, the adopted children would be more likely to encounter negative attitudes and prejudices than children raised in so-called "traditional" families consisting of a man and a woman of the same race. Naturally, society (appropriately) rejects that argument in connection with adoption by biracial couples and it should do the same with regard to that argument against adoption by same-sex couples. In principle, it is never appropriate to limit the rights of victims of prejudice in that way. The fact that certain marital relationships may be subject to negative responses from some in the community is only an argument for better education in the community with respect to those issues.

The counterargument is not necessarily that children are necessarily better off being adopted into same-sex-couple families; rather it is simply that in the absence of any demonstrable evidence that children do less well in those situations, there is absolutely no justification for limiting adoption to traditional couples. Furthermore, the argument against adoption by same-sex couples presupposes that traditional marital relationships necessarily possess the qualities and attributes that are required to provide a stable and loving home for adopted children. In fact, the rate of marital dissolution (i.e. divorce) in the United States is more than half of all marriages, and the average length of so-called "traditional" marriage in the U.S. is only approximately seven years (Henslin, 2007). Moreover, those statistics do not represent the actual level of happiness and healthiness of the traditional marital relationship since many more couples are unhappy but choose not to divorce for various reasons. In addition, spousal abuse and other forms of domestic violence are problems that occur quite regularly within traditional marriages and they are a serious social problem in society (Henslin, 2007).