Adoption

“Adoption in Same-Sex Couples”
By Jeanie Lerche Davis taken from WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Charlotte E. Grayson Mathis, MD
Feb. 4, 2002 –

Retrieved: Tuesday May 13th, 2008.

Childrenthrive in same-sex families, studies have shown. Yet in most states, the co-parent -- the second parent -- is not allowed to adopt the child. That should change, says the American Academy of Pediatrics(AAP).
"When two adults participate in parenting a child, they and the child deserve the serenity that comes with legal recognition," says a statement issued by the AAP's Committee on PsychosocialAspects of Child and Family Health. The statement appears in the current issue of the medical journal Pediatrics.
"The Academy supports the legal adoption of children by co-parents or second parents,"says the statement. "Denying legal parent status through adoption ... prevents these children from enjoying the psychologic and legal security that comes from having two willing, capable, and lovingparents."
In the statement, the committee says when the law recognizes co-parent adoption, it produces these benefits:
* It guarantees that the second parent's custody rights and responsibilitieswill be protected if the first parent were to die or become incapacitated.
* It protects the second parent's right to custody and visitation if the couple separates.
* It establishes the requirementfor child support from both parents in the event of the parents' separation.
* It ensures the child's eligibility for health benefits from both parents.
* It provides legal grounds for eitherparent to provide consent for medical care and to make education, healthcare, and other important decisions on behalf of the child.
* It creates the basis for financial security for children in theevent of the death of either parent.
It's time to stop looking for problems in gay and lesbian parent-child relationships, says Ellen C. Perrin, MD, a professor of pediatrics at Tufts New England...