States that allow gay couples to adopt
How Did the Law Regarding Same-Sex Adoption Change in the U.S.?
For the longest period, same-sex couples weren’t able to adopt children in this state. If a LGBT person was lucky, they could adopt a child on their own and then raise the child with their partner. But to complete this, they had to disallow 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
LGBT Adoption in Texas: Can Same-Sex Couples Adopt?
Yes, gay couples can legally adopt children in Texas - with no marriage or partnership required. Adoption by same-sex couples is legal and welcomed in all 50 states. In cases of open adoptions, many birth parents today specifically select gay adoptive parents because they are compassionate, accepting, and loving.
However, despite fewer legal barriers than years ago and gay adoption being more common than ever, gay couples pursuing LGBT adoption are not guaranteed an easy path, and may still face challenges with working with faith-based adoption agencies, or in s international adoption situations.
An experienced and understanding LGBT family law attorney in Texas can advocate for you and protect your rights should you deal with a myriad of issues. In the last several decades, support and acceptance for gay couple adoption, same-sex adoption, and LGBT adoption rights have increased significantly.
LGBTQ Adoption in Texas - Particularities
Families today are more diverse and unusual than ever - and same-sex couples are
Facts and Figures: Lgbtq+ 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 adequately 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 woman-loving woman 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 include an adopted toddler than their counterpart different-sex couples.
- According to a press free by UCLA’s Williams Institute, same-sex couples that adopt children are more diverse in socioeconomic status and ethnicity, opposite to popular misconceptions that they
LGBT International Adoption: Is it Possible?
While joint LGBT adoption is now legal in the United States, some same-sex couples are drawn to an international male lover adoption instead. Whether this is due to a desire to adopt a child living in an orphanage who is desperately in need of a family, a desire to adopt a child of another culture, or simply because of an interest in adopting a foreign-born child, they decide that an LGBT international adoption is what’s right for them.
However, whether you’ve decided on this kind of adoption or are still considering it, it’s key to recognize that there will be challenges with a gay international adoption that you would not have during a home child adoption. Over the past decade, many foreign countries have started restricting international adoptions for all couples. If you’re an LGBT couple, your options will be even more limited, as not many countries are as steady as the U.S. is for LGBT adoption rights.
As with any other adoption process, it’s important that you fully research an international gay adoption to decide wheth