Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents

Abstract

To the Editor.—I am responding to the AAP press release regarding the February 2002 issue of Pediatrics and the “Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents.”As a long-time member of the AAP, I am angry and terribly disappointed but not surprised by the Academy’s issuing a statement advising the world that the “AAP supports adoption by same-sex parents.” I take issue with the “Technical Report” by the Committee on Psychological Aspects of Child and Family Health. This is a report heavily biased by the homosexual community, with nearly half of the references coming directly from homosexual books or journals and none from the perspective of the traditional family. I very much doubt that the Family Research Counsel or Focus on the Family were asked to provide an alternative view.For the AAP to issue such a statement that legitimizes same-sex marriage and calls for same-sex adoption, as if the body of pediatricians making up the AAP agree, is outrageous. But why am I not surprised? The AAP has too often taken the moral low ground on other issues such as school-based sex education and abortion.I feel that I must maintain my membership in the Academy for professional reasons and I wish to remain involved at the state level through the Florida Pediatric Society, but I do not want to be associated with this type of proclamation! As a physician who has worked with and for children for over 30 years, I am embarrassed that the AAP would allow this committee to publish such a report.