should same sex couples be allowed to adopt children?

If they'd make good parents, they should be able to adopt.

Yes, of course. As long as they will be good parents, as with any couples looking to adopt.

rules about adoption of children should be the same regardless of gender or marital status of a couple

Of course they should be able to adopt children.

I went with a friend to Midnight Mass on 12/24 at the Episcopalian Cathedral, which is a welcoming congregation, and there were lots of gay families there. There was a sweet interracial family sitting next to us in our pew - a white male couple and their African-American daughter and son.

Aggggggggggggggggggggggggh, Sorry I've just looked at the votes, my view of the determination of the human race must be wrong. What are we? A race of females for a generation? A race of males for a generation? Or race of males and females for eternity?.......michael

miykal: Where do you get the idea that suddenly everyone will be in a homosexual relationship? There are plenty of heterosexual couples out there. I'm sure you and your wife are an example of that. Right? It's just that if a couple happens to be two members of the same sex, why shouldn't they be able to raise a child? Provided, of course, that they love the child and are good parents to him or her. What's the difference?

I understand that it has been done in some areas, but I just don't know enough about the results to decide one way or the other. I fully support gay rights but I'm more concerned with the welfare of the child. If I could see reasonable evidence that the children suffered no ill effects (whatever those would be, I'm not even sure) then I would be all for it.

Lizabeth, what is the bias of evolution? I do not know, and I am not willing to gamble with it, are you?

cuddlygirl 17, I hate you. (just kidding). You ask the most interesting questions.

miykal: In a survey quite a while ago you argued that homosexuality was defective/not viable/not a proper behavior because if taken to the logical extreme that everyone was homosexual, then humanity would die out. You appear to be reacting to this survey based on that assumption combined with the assumption that all children of same sex couples are will turn out to be homosexual themselves, so the homosexual population would grow to the disaster point. I don't have any data to back this point up, but I expect as in matters of height, weight, intelligence that regression to the mean will take care of ensuring that not all children of homosexuals are homosexual. For example, children of tall people still tend to be taller than average, but not as tall as their parents. Therefore children of homosexual parents might have more same-sex leanings than average, but will still tend to be primarily opposite-sex oriented. Finally, SC is not a representative set of (world, US, etc.) population, it's a self-selecting sample so while survey results are interesting, you have to take any meanings you draw from them with a big grain of salt. If this survey makes you reevaluate your (IMO flawed) assumptions, then great!

No, plain and simple

I wish! There are definitely some people out there I'd be happy to infect.

Gilly: similarly, many of us straights wish it were 'curable' for the same selfish reason.

I think he also assumes that homosexual parents would try to raise the child to their way of thinking and not let them figure it out for themselves. Which is a perfectly reasonable assumption, considering that many straight parents do it (and have nervous breakdowns when it doesn't work). Why would he assume gay parents are any better?

By the way, what is that called, if you admit to your parents you aren't gay? Coming into the closet?

jonathan, your post is certainly food for thought. Thank you.
................................michael

I think gay people should be treated like people.

They should be treated like people, but their acts shouldn't be treated as appropriate.

No. I think you shouldnt contaminate a kids mind like that. That is gross and discusting. If you couldnt have kids naturally because you werent made like that then why should you be able to adopt a kid?

That is nasty that all you peeps think you should be able to adopt. If I was related to the kid or something I wouldnt want him or her to be adopted by some gays.

of course

BKC: should people who were born sterile be banned from adopting?

romkey: actually I think there's some point to considering marital status, assuming some way of considering marital status of gays and lesbians comes into widespread use. Raising a kid is a job for more than one person and while I think you shouldn't subject kids to bad marriages there is something to be said for making it clear how much of a commitment raising a kid is.

No, I haven't reconciled this with my opinion that other kinds of partners (for instance siblings, as inspired by Anne of Green Gables) should be able to co-adopt kids.

How the hell can two males have a child?!

I think anyone who is financially and mentally stable should be able to adopt. There are too many kids out there with no homes to be turning people away because they are gay or lesbian or even single parents. One the other hand, what kind of lifestyle are the kids going to grow up learning???

Maggie: The kids will grow up learning that it is okay to be different.

That would be the ideal thinking. But who knows what would actually be taught. It would depend on the parents.

Maggie, it would depend on their genes, their environment (parents are only a part of this), and their very own thinking which goes beyond their genes and environment influences, and the latter only if they choose.

I don't believe everything about you is in your genes. A lot of things are learned from the environment in which you are raised. Most of your learned habits are learned as a young child which would make them mostly taught by your parents. I learned a lot of things from my mom and I didn't even realize it until a year or 2 ago, even though I haven't lived with her for about 5 years.

there are a lot of opposite sex people who shouldn't be allowed to adopt anything... not even a pet!

I think my sisters want to have kids, and I sometimes wonder whether they'll adopt or try to find a "donor"... :/

I think we've been over this before. How about something really novel, like "should family units with fewer than four adults be allowed to adopt children?"

Repeating my earlier stance (as a lesbian, myself), everyone should have the same rights, regardless of sexual preference, race, religion, etc...

It's interesting that the written responses (mostly negative) don't reflect the outcome of the survey.

natsim: maybe the positive people don't feel their position needs to be defended nearly as strenuously?

drdt: yeah. Or they're bored....

phi: (sorry I'm coming into this one a bit late) I have a bit of a problem with putting too much restriction on single parenting--it's certainly a lot of work, but if I wanted to have a child (when I was good and ready to have one) and decided to be a single parent (which I would be willing to do if I didn't have a partner and really wanted a kid, especially if I was much over 35), I would take serious issue with anyone who wanted to stop me. Similarly, with adopting a child, I don't think being single should be a big factor in ruling out a potential parent.
Plus, my kid(s) would have a great uncle to help raise them! Or maybe you'd want to adopt one with me!!

Hey !!! Don't forget the kick-ass aunt!! And uncle-out-law; and aunt-out-law, and aunt-out-law-once-removed ...

Yes, they should, if they are capable of being good parents.

This is from December?! I can't believe I'm just now seeing it for the first time.

No, I do not think they should be able to adopt children. I feel that children are procreated by a man and woman. Through this union, the child would learn the complementary attributes of the man and woman, a healthy balance. When two women or two men raise a child, I think the child is missing an important link to their healthy development. The human psyche is delicate, and doesn't need to be messed with.

There are many reasons why, this being one of the reasons.

Jeanne, it's very rare that two men or two women would choose to raise a child without any role models of the other gender. I know that sometimes the stereotype is that lesbians do not like men, and gay men only spend time with other men, but that stereotype is rarely true. Just so you know...