David M. Brodzinsky and Adam Perman (eds.): Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men: A New Dimension in Family Diversity

Abstract

In Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men: A New Dimension in Family Diversity, editors David M. Brodzinsky and Adam Pertman sought to provide an overview of the challenges that homosexual couples face in American adoption processes, as well as examine available social science research on children raised in these families. The book covers a wide variety of topics, including the overall history of the adoption process, specific legal challenges, and societal perceptions of the interfamilial dynamics in families consisting of two gay parents. The primary objective of the book is to familiarize readers with the concept of adoption and educate those who may have never considered any of the arguments for, or against, gay adoption. Each of the book’s eleven chapters starts by setting the foundations of its respective topic before delving into the outcomes of studies or surveys of state-by-state demographic data and, in doing so, makes the complex topic of gay adoption accessible to its audience. Looking at gay adoption from a legal standpoint, it is argued that differing state laws regarding adoption by one or more gay parents complicate the adoption process, despite most states having no explicit laws against gay parents’ adoption of children. Further, the related issue of gay marriage provides its own problems when the gay biological parent and his or her spouse both seek to establish legal guardianship of their children. The clarity of these laws to the public also serves as a barrier to adoption as some adoption agencies, if without a policy banning adoption by gay couples, act as though it is illegal to place children with gay couples. From a public policy standpoint, gay couples tend to adopt children considered ‘‘special needs,’’ which can include children with certain mental or physical handicaps, or children who are older and therefore less likely to be sought after by heterosexual parents. The chapters also examine the legitimacy of arguments against