Wednesday, February 29, 2012

What does a "good" family look like?

Hey guys- Samantha here again. 

In writing the previous post about open adoption, it really made me wonder: what does a ‘good’ family look like? Open adoption families have many different faces, and even for biological families it’s obviously no longer the 50’s vision of the ‘American Family’. Dads don’t always go to work all day, moms don’t always stay home, children don’t always come from their mother's bellies, parents don’t always stay married (or ever get married), families come in many different race and ethnicity combinations, there can be blended and step families and some children even have two mommies or two daddies. All of those possible kinds of families have what it takes to be a great family for a child in need of a home.

I was raised by a lesbian woman so I- of course- feel strongly about the parenting abilities of LGBT individuals and couples. However, when I got to thinking about families, I wanted to do some more research on the topic of LGBT parenting.

In Ohio there are about 18,100 same-sex households (this is an approximate 250% growth from 2006). Even more specifically, there are approximately 8,610 same-sex households in Columbus alone. That means almost 50% of the entire same-sex population in Ohio resides in Columbus.

In 2010 the American Community Survey reported that there were almost 600,000 same sex households in the United States, yet only about 17% reported having children in their home as opposed to about 45% of married and unmarried heterosexual households.  That results in a 28% difference between the two communities and here at Choice Network we would love to be a part of equaling those numbers out.  

In 2010, the United States had over 100,000 children still waiting for adoption. Of those 100,000, 60%- or 60,000- have already had their biological parents rights terminated.

Over the past decade or so research has repeatedly concluded that children raised by gay or lesbian individuals and/or couples are equal to children who are raised by one or more heterosexual parents in emotional, cognitive and social development. They most certainly fare better than the more than 100,000 children left waiting for a home every year within the foster care system.  Research has found there are no significant differences between heterosexual and homosexual parents in their parenting abilities, parenting attitudes or emotional stability.

Choice Network’s only priority is creating happy, healthy, stable and permanent families; and we are looking forward to working with more LGBT clients because two dads (or moms) are always better than none. :)


Sources
1.       Administration for Children and Families (June 2011). http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/statistics/adoptfs_tbl8_2010.pdf
2.       The AFCARS Report. (January 2011). http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report18.htm
3.       Center for American Progress, Family Equality Council, & Movement Advancement Project (October 2011).
http://lgbtmap.org/file/all-children-matter-full-report.pdf
4.       The Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute (2006). http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/publications/2006_Expanding_Resources_for_Children%20_March_.pdf
5.        Same-Sex Couples and the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual Population: New Estimates from the American Community Survey. (October 2006) http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8h08t0zf
6.       Same-Sex Couple Households (September 2011)