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Laws against gay adoption

How Did the Law Regarding Same-Sex Adoption Change in the U.S.?

For the longest moment, same-sex couples weren’t able to adopt children in this region. If a LGBT person was lucky, they could adopt a child on their own and then raise the child with their partner. But to carry out this, they had to oppose their sexual orientation. Adoption agencies would never approve an adoption for someone who was LGBT.

As more and more states legalized same-sex marriage, more LGBT couples became able to adopt children. This isn’t because adoption agencies suddenly lost their biases and discriminatory attitudes. It’s only because there was no longer a legal basis for their denying same-sex adoptions.

Prior to the legalization of same-sex marriage, adoption agencies relied on an applicant’s marital status to deny an adoption. This meant that, since LGBT couples couldn’t legally marry, they couldn’t legally adopt children either.

All of this changed a several years ago. There were two major cases that finally made LGBT couple adoptions possible. Houston LGBT lawyers are very familiar with these cases a

Facts and Figures: Queer Adoption Statistics

  • As of , LGBTQ adoption was effectively made legal in all 50 U.S. states.
  • Today, LGBTQ individuals are coming out earlier in life and an increasing number of same-sex couples are planning and creating their families through assisted reproductive technology (ART) and surrogacy, as adv as adoption and foster care.
  • As of this last decade, an estimated 6 to 14 million children have a gay or sapphic parent. And, between 8 and 10 million children are being raised in gay and sapphic households.
  • The states with the top percentages of gay and lesbian parents are: Washington, D.C., Massachusetts, California, New Mexico and Alaska, with the state of California having the highest number of adopted children living with same sex parents.
  • LGBTQ couples are four times more likely to acquire an adopted toddler than their counterpart different-sex couples.
  • According to a press discharge by UCLA’s Williams Institute, same-sex couples that adopt children are more diverse in socioeconomic status and ethnicity, hostile to popular misconceptions that they

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    State Religious Exemption Laws

    State religious exemption laws permit people, churches, non-profit organizations, and sometimes corporations to seek exemptions from state laws that burden their religious values. These laws have recently been used as a defense when businesses discriminate against or refuse service to LGBTQ customers and same-sex couples.

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    Foster and Adoption Laws

    Foster care non-discrimination laws guard LGBTQ foster parents from discrimination by foster concern agencies and officials. Some states explicitly restrict foster care by same-sex parents. Other states ban adoption by unmarried couples, effectively resulting in a disallow on foster care by same-sex couples if marriage for same-sex couples is not available in that state.

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    Other Parental Recognition Laws

    Donor insemination laws apply when women in a same-sex association have a child through donor insemination, granting legal parenting rights to the non-biological mother as adv as the birth mother. De facto parenting laws apply when someon

    What to Know About Gay Adoption Laws in the U.S.

    Same-sex adoption laws possess come a long way in the United States. For many years, gay couples could not adopt together due to discrimination and adoption requirements that they couldn’t legally meet.

    So, why is same-sex adoption legal today?

    It all changed in March , when a federal judge overturned the gay adoption bar in Mississippi. Thanks to the marriage equality judgment of Obergefell vs. Hodges, a precedent was set; because marriage was now legal to same-sex couples, it only logically followed that they couldn’t be denied the rights of any other married couple to adopt a child.

    This was a monumental moment for gay adoption laws in the U.S., shaping the legislation and legality of the act around the country. However, while married couples can now adopt jointly in any state, there are still some legal complications that arise in adoptions with unmarried LGBT couples. As always, if you’re considering adoption for your LGBT family, it’s best to consult with an experienced adoption attorney in your state.

    If you are a