Adoption may have come a long way since the mid to late nineties, but it still has strides to make in order to be considered colorblind or unshackled by racial, legal, or even social bias against the LGBTQ+ community.
There are still some stigmas family attorneys come across when it comes to same-sex parents looking to adopt.
Racial Bias
As of 2019, the number of white children adopted in the country was twice as high as the number of Hispanic or African-American children. This shows that racial bias goes both ways. It exists for non-white children as much as it does for non-white same-sex couples.
Gender Bias
Being heterosexual becomes a privilege when you’re able to adopt a child within national borders. For same-sex couples coming from ethnic backgrounds, this is complicated tenfold due to biased social workers who may run through their case file with a fine-toothed comb than if they belonged to the heterosexual majority.
Look at it this way: a family is less likely to approve of you if you’re a same-sex couple than not. It’s even less likely to allow it if the child you want to adopt is male, and you’re a male couple. Similarly, lesbian pairs have an equally difficult time adopting female children.
According to the US Census Bureau, 22.5% of female same-sex couples adopted children as compared to 6.6% male same-sex couples. Pair this with the fact that,
- Sons are still preferred over daughters in many parts of the United States, and,
- Lesbian couples are less likely to be able to adopt a female child.
This means that female children are at a constant disadvantage within the system, regardless of who wants to adopt them.
Legal Bias
Same-sex adoption may be legal in all 50 states, but it’s not exactly the same for everyone across the board. Indeed, laws are inconsistent across state lines for non-hetero couples.
We’re part of a system that does not acknowledge equal parenthood for the female partner of a birth mother until certain legal obligations are met. This is made even more difficult when both parents are unrelated to the child.
The legal system may have come far since same-sex marriage was legalized in the US, but it still has a long way to go before becoming completely transferred and neutral where its same-sex proponents are concerned.
Meanwhile, the family lawyers at Anderson Keuscher PLLC are hard at work to advocate for those facing the legal and social barriers that exist for our same-sex clients.
Adoption takes a toll on straight couples, never mind gay and lesbian couples. Let our family law attorneys help streamline the process if you’re a married or unmarried pair looking to adopt.
Leave us a message, and we’ll have things started without delay.
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