Adoption policy discussion

[~candice~]

People aren't going to admit to abuse in their screening interview. According to your case by case criteria, how do you shave off the high risk couples???

[UndecidedFrog]

People aren't going to admit to abuse in their screening interview. According to your case by case criteria, how do you shave off the high risk couples???

You do the grunt work, and research past psychological problems, medication history, counseling history, health records, interviews with parents, friends, etc. Dig into letters of recommendations, surveillance, if necessary. Even so, there is no guarantee, just like no guarantees with hetero couples.

We do not shave off potential adoptive parents because they happen to be black, or are homosexual. Doing that would be discrimination. Forming public policy based on such discrimination is illegal in the US.

Regards,

UF

Edited July 29, 2011 by UndecidedFrog

[doubting_tommy]

There could be some unusual cases where a child will be better raised by a same-sex couple than by a heterosexual couple.

Suppose, for example that a bisexual man marries a woman and has a child, and that the wife then dies of natural causes and the man remarries but this time he marries another man.

It seems fair to say that in this case, all else being equal, the child would be better off being raised by his biological father and his father's new partner, rather than by an opposite-sex couple.

[~candice~]

There could be some unusual cases where a child will be better raised by a same-sex couple than by a heterosexual couple.

Suppose, for example that a bisexual man marries a woman and has a child, and that the wife then dies of natural causes and the man remarries but this time he marries another man.

It seems fair to say that in this case, all else being equal, the child would be better off being raised by his biological father and his father's new partner, rather than by an opposite-sex couple.

What would be better is that the father raise the child either alone, or if there was a second parent, it be a female.

[UndecidedFrog]

There could be some unusual cases where a child will be better raised by a same-sex couple than by a heterosexual couple.

Suppose, for example that a bisexual man marries a woman and has a child, and that the wife then dies of natural causes and the man remarries but this time he marries another man.

It seems fair to say that in this case, all else being equal, the child would be better off being raised by his biological father and his father's new partner, rather than by an opposite-sex couple.

What would be better is that the father raise the child either alone, or if there was a second parent, it be a female.

I disagree. Studies have shown that 2 parents (regardless of gender) are better than 1 for successfully raising children.

Regards,

UF

[~candice~]

There could be some unusual cases where a child will be better raised by a same-sex couple than by a heterosexual couple.

Suppose, for example that a bisexual man marries a woman and has a child, and that the wife then dies of natural causes and the man remarries but this time he marries another man.

It seems fair to say that in this case, all else being equal, the child would be better off being raised by his biological father and his father's new partner, rather than by an opposite-sex couple.

What would be better is that the father raise the child either alone, or if there was a second parent, it be a female.

I disagree. Studies have shown that 2 parents (regardless of gender) are better than 1 for successfully raising children.

Regards,

UF

We've got a different measuring stick for defining successful parenting. What exactly is "successfully raising children"? How do you quantify it to be able to compare it? I think it goes without saying that we would do this in different ways.

[UndecidedFrog]

I disagree. Studies have shown that 2 parents (regardless of gender) are better than 1 for successfully raising children.

Regards,

UF

We've got a different measuring stick for defining successful parenting. What exactly is "successfully raising children"? How do you quantify it to be able to compare it? I think it goes without saying that we would do this in different ways.

Yes, we probably do have different definitions for what successfully-raised children look like. If that definition included being christian, I would probably not agree with that definition.

In any case, if you are interested in reading, here is a lengthy treatment of comparing hetero vs. gay parenting and the results on children published by the APA (American Psychological Association).

http://www.apa.org/pi/lgbt/resources/parenting.aspx

If you want to get right down to the conclusion, there is a conclusion link on the right side of that webpage.

Regards,

UF

[doubting_tommy]

What would be better is that the father raise the child either alone, or if there was a second parent, it be a female.

I don't understand why raising the child alone would be better than raising the child as part of a couple.

[~candice~]

UF, the conclusion itself states that

It should be acknowledged that research on lesbian and gay parents and their children, though no longer new, is still limited in extent. Although studies of gay fathers and their children have been conducted (Patterson, 2004), less is known about children of gay fathers than about children of lesbian mothers. Although studies of adolescent and young adult offspring of lesbian and gay parents are available (e.g., Gershon et al., 1999; Tasker & Golombok, 1997; Wainright et al., 2004), relatively few studies have focused on the offspring of lesbian or gay parents during adolescence or adulthood. Although more diverse samples have been included in recent studies (e.g., Golombok et al., 2003; Wainright et al., 2004), many sources of heterogeneity have yet to be systematically investigated. Although two longitudinal studies have been reported (Gartrell et al., 1996, 1999, 2000; Tasker & Golombok, 1997), longitudinal studies that follow lesbian and gay parent families over time are still needed. Thus, although a considerable amount of information is available, additional research would further our understanding of lesbian and gay parents and their children.

So, there are two issues at play here. One is that there needs to be more study done to see if there is any harm, or difference in development of children, between straight and gay parents, according to the APA's definition of normal child development. Failure to detect a difference, with little data, is not evidence of no difference. Second - there is the issue of whether or not the APA's definition of normal child development agrees with what we glean as "normal" from the bible.

[UndecidedFrog]

UF, the conclusion itself states that

It should be acknowledged that research on lesbian and gay parents and their children, though no longer new, is still limited in extent. Although studies of gay fathers and their children have been conducted (Patterson, 2004), less is known about children of gay fathers than about children of lesbian mothers. Although studies of adolescent and young adult offspring of lesbian and gay parents are available (e.g., Gershon et al., 1999; Tasker & Golombok, 1997; Wainright et al., 2004), relatively few studies have focused on the offspring of lesbian or gay parents during adolescence or adulthood. Although more diverse samples have been included in recent studies (e.g., Golombok et al., 2003; Wainright et al., 2004), many sources of heterogeneity have yet to be systematically investigated. Although two longitudinal studies have been reported (Gartrell et al., 1996, 1999, 2000; Tasker & Golombok, 1997), longitudinal studies that follow lesbian and gay parent families over time are still needed. Thus, although a considerable amount of information is available, additional research would further our understanding of lesbian and gay parents and their children.

So, there are two issues at play here. One is that there needs to be more study done to see if there is any harm, or difference in development of children, between straight and gay parents, according to the APA's definition of normal child development. Failure to detect a difference, with little data, is not evidence of no difference. Second - there is the issue of whether or not the APA's definition of normal child development agrees with what we glean as "normal" from the bible.

Yes, candice, it does state that more study is needed. However, I have yet to come across any pysch paper conclusion where more study was not recommended.

Be that as it may, the conclusion is quite clear that given the information and studies to date (when the summary was written), that:

In summary, there is no evidence to suggest that lesbian women or gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development among children of lesbian women or gay men is compromised relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents. Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by lesbian and gay parents are as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children's psychosocial growth.

The other issue you brought up is more troubling. Yes, failure to detect a difference does not mean this is evidence for no difference. However, from a rational perspective, failure to detect differences with the given information, leads one to have no reason to believe there is a difference until there is sufficient information that supports a difference.

I do not agree with the bible's prescription for child rearing (not sparing the rod).

Regards,

UF

Edited August 23, 2011 by UndecidedFrog