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Jose Sanchez

D. Quintero

ENGL-1301-OMAD1 Composition I

October 04, 2022

Change a Kid’s Life with LGBT Adoption in Texas

There are over 400,000 children (about half the population of Delaware) in foster care

around the US waiting for a lovely family that would like to adopt them. Those little innocent

children need the love and affection from a family willing to give them, not just a house, but a

real “home.” Adoption from any type of family, including LGBT, should be allowed across the

US. It was in 2017, when the U.S. Supreme Court effectively ruled that same-sex Adoptions

were legal in all 50 states. There around 543,000 same sex married couple households in the

United States, that are more than 100,000 compared to the children in foster care. That means

that if legal and cultural impediments would not still exist against LGBT adopters, those children

could have a home. People think that LGBT couples would be a bad influence for the children or

that they will show them other “things.” LGBT Adoptions are in the children's best interest and

should always be supported by the government and the organizations, because Children at foster

care need a family, if the LGBT couple is well on the adopting standards, it should be allowed,

and LGBT members have the same right of having a family.

Children in foster care need a family. Among our community, there are a lot of children

in foster care that cannot have the opportunity of having a family that will love them and look

after them. Statistics from the article, “Texas Foster Care and Adoption Guidelines” demonstrate

that, “There were 28,753 children in foster care in Texas and 5,925 children waiting for adoptive
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families.” This means that more than one fifth of those children in need do not have the

opportunity of having a family, without counting the many other children that also need a family.

If any type of couple would be allowed to adopt a kid with more ease, most of those children

would have an adoptive family. Because some people and organizations still have those old

school thoughts of a couple being a man and a woman, they do not accept the idea of a LGBT

adoptive family. According to the article, “A Same-sex Couple’s Struggle to Adopt,” Stewart

Johnson states that, “Gay couples trying to adopt children learn that both legal and cultural

impediments still exist.” Even though laws on same sex adoptions were already cleared by the

Supreme Court, there are still many challenges that LBGT couples still face in the process of

adopting. If we want to solve the problem regarding the need for adoptive families and those

children, in foster care, we all must change the way LGBT couples are being treated; especially,

during the adoption process. Children at foster care have the need of a family, no matter if it is a

LGBT family. All they need is a caring couple, meeting the adoption standards that the

government addresses.

If the LGBT couple is well on the adopting standards, it should be allowed. Adoption is

all about looking for the child’s best interest and for them to be in an environment that will help

them grow as a person. “Who May Adopt, Be Adopted, or Place a Child for Adoption,” assures

that in general, any single adult or a married couple jointly can be eligible to adopt. This means

that couples who are in the adoption process are qualified and meet all the standards. Therefore,

they would be the best option for those children. Children will have a better life if they are in a

place that is highly qualified to have a family with a safe environment. We should focus more on

looking at how the parents are qualified for the adoption process, not what the parents’ likes, and

preferences are. “Characteristics of Successful Adoptive Families,” Debi Grebenik states the
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following, “With awareness and planning, the adoption journey can be one that promotes growth,

blessings, and healing for all involved.” What we look for in adopting parents is for them to be a

guide and good instructors for the children. One of the many qualifications to be able to adopt is

to be good parents and guide the child along the correct path. On the other hand, this

argumentative topic is not only affecting the children at foster care that need a family, but it also

affects the many LGBT couples that have the dream to adopt and have a family. We all, as

American citizens and under what the Constitution states, have the same right to have a family.

LGBT members have the same right to have a family. All US citizens, no matter their

ethnicity or sexual orientation, have the same rights to be able to adopt a child. After the

Supreme Court case Obergefell V. Hodges in 2015, all same sex marriage was allowed in all the

states of the United States, including the option for stepparent adoption. If the Supreme court,

under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, allowed all the rights of same sex marriage

which also includes the right to adopt a child. Under the mandate of the U.S Constitution, “We

the people,” have the same right of having a family. This includes all of us that were born with

the same rights, and if it is done another way that is discrimination. Some organizations still ban

LGBT couples from their constitutional right of adopting a child from foster care. These are

discriminatory policies from those organizations against people who have their right to adopt a

child. According to a study from ACLU, “Somehow those LGBT rights do not work out in states

like Florida and Arkansas, which ban gays and lesbians from adopting and being foster parents.”

Some places do not respect the people’s right to adopt a child just because of their sexual

preferences, which is unacceptable and discriminatory. This contradicts what the US

Constitution, one of the documents from which our nation was born, addresses to be legal and
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correct. However, just how some organizations and states still contradict the rights of people to

adopt, there will be people that will contradict my argument, of LGBT adoption being correct.

LGBT Adoptions are the children's best interest and should always be supported by the

government and the organizations because Children at foster care need a family, if the LGBT

couple is well on the adopting standards it should be allowed, and LGBT members have the

same right of having a family. LGBT couples have other ideas of how to raise a kid and they

might teach children those bad ideas, which would lead to negative effects on the child's life.

According to "Same Sex Adoption: Weighing the Pros and Cons," Robertson states that,

"Statistics show that teens raised by LGBT parents often have higher rates of depression, drug

abuse and suicide than by straight parents." Heterosexual couples are the best option for children

in foster care because they will raise those children better than those LGBT couples and will let

those children live a normal life without any negative effect. The evidence my opponent has

supports his argument because it shows statistics that demonstrate what usually happens

whenever children are raised by LGBT couples. LGBT couples have the same goals and

intentions in the children's best interest, to assure that the child has a life like all the other

children with a family. "Effects of Lesbian and Gay Parenting on Children and of Same-sex

Unions on Heterosexual Marriage and Divorce Rates," Susan Price-Livingston assures that, "The

great majority of studies published in the past 20 years conclude that there are no notable

developmental differences between children raised by heterosexual parents and those raised by

lesbian and gay parents." This is due to the discrimination that LGBT couples once suffered.

LGBT couples will tend to be more comprehensive with the decisions the children make but will

stay careful that they are on the right track and will look for their best interest. Just because

LGBT couples have different sexual preferences on their couples, that does not mean that they
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are going to "pass" those preferences to their children. They will be open-minded to the likes of

their children. Even so, people that do not support the opportunity of LGBT couples adopting a

child will always exist. That idea must be changed to a better perspective of how the LGBT

adoption can contribute to the wellbeing of our community.

The importance of this issue is not just for the people directly involved in the argument; it

also is of great interest to the rest of the community. If we all come to the agreement that LGBT

adoption is something beneficial, our community would grow as a united and strong community.

LGBT Adoptions are in the children's best interest and should always be supported by the

government and the organizations because Children at foster care need a family, if the LGBT

couple is well on the adopting standards it should be allowed, and LGBT members have the

same right of having a family. Every day, the world is becoming even more inhumane and

selfish. If we all just erase those bad thoughts from LGBT adoption off the face of the earth, this

world would be much better. Again, those thousands of children in foster care are just waiting for

a caring couple to adopt them and give them all the love they have been wanting for their whole

life.
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Works Cited

Grebenik, Debi. “Characteristics of Successful Adoptive Families.” Focus on the Family, 01 Jan.

2008, https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/characteristics-of-successful-adoptive-

families/. Accessed 03 Oct. 2022.

Price-Livingston, Susan. ¨ Effects of Lesbian and Gay Parenting on Children and of Same-sex

Unions on Heterosexual Marriage and Divorce Rates,¨ ORL Backgrounder, 25 Oct. 2002,

https://www.cga.ct.gov/2002/olrdata/jud/rpt/2002-r-0879.htm. Accessed 03 Oct. 2022.

Robertson, Rachel. “Same Sex Adoption: Weighing the Pros and Cons." Adoption Choices of

Oklahoma, 2020, https://adoptionchoicesofoklahoma.org/stagging/same-sex-adoption-

pros-and-cons/. Accessed 03 Oct. 2022.

Stewart Johnson, Rachel. “A Same-sex Couple’s Struggle to Adopt.” John Hopkins Magazine,

John Hopkins University, Fall 2013, https://hub.jhu.edu/magazine/2013/fall/gay-couple-

adoption/. Accessed 02 Oct. 2022.

“Texas Foster Care and Adoption Guidelines.” AdoptUSKids, Adoption Exchange Association,

https://www.adoptuskids.org/adoption-and-foster-care/how-to-adopt-and-foster/state-

information/texas#state-contact-information. Accessed 2 Oct. 2022.

“The Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People.” American Civil Liberties

Union, 2020, https://www.aclu.org/other/rights-lesbian-gay-bisexual-and-transgender-

people. Accessed 03 Oct. 2022.

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“Who May Adopt, Be Adopted, or Place a Child for Adoption?” State Statues, 2020,

https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/parties/. Accessed

02 Oct. 2022.