Same-sex couples are more likely to foster and adopt

A new study by the Williams Institute found that same-sex couples are more like to be raising foster and adopted children than opposite-sex couples.

The Aderholt Amendment, which the House Appropriations Committee voted to add the Labor and Health and Human Services appropriations bill, would allow child welfare providers to discriminate against LGBT people in adoption and foster care services.

“This amendment is not just a petty attack on the LGBTQ community — it’s also going to hurt innocent children who are waiting for nothing more than to be adopted by a loving family,” said House LGBT Equality Caucus Co-Chair Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.)

The Williams Institute released its report

An estimated 114,000 same-sex couples in the United States are raising children and many of them have become parents through adoption or fostering.

One in five same-sex couples (21.4 percent) are raising adopted children compared to just 3% of opposite-sex couples, and 2.9 percent of same-sex couples have foster children compared to 0.4 percent of opposite-sex couples.
The Aderholt Amendment is an attempt to get around nondiscrimination laws in some cities and states that prevent agencies receiving government money from discriminating.
If the amendment passes, states that prohibit adoption and foster agencies from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status or family structure could lose substantial federal funding.

The Williams Institute also found that 20 percent of youth in foster care in Los Angeles were LGBT.

— David Taffet