Andrea, a successful single woman from Maryland, was in her mid 30s when she made a decision. “I wanted to be a mom, and I got to an age where I thought it wasn’t going to happen in other ways,” she told Mom.com. She looked into international adoption and also domestic adoption, but “didn’t think it was a good option given how expensive it is. I’ve since learned that maybe wasn’t true….” She instead looked into becoming a foster parent and now, more than a decade later, she has a 12-year-old daughter she adopted from foster care and is in the process of trying to adopt a baby through domestic adoption.
What should a single person take into consideration before adopting?
LGBTQ adoption: The laws and your rights
More and more gay and lesbian couples are adopting. Currently, 4% of adopted kids and 3% of foster children are being raised by same-sex couples, according to American Adoption.
As of June 2017, adoption by same sex couples is legal in all 50 states. But 11 states allow for state-licensed child welfare agencies to deny services and adoption based on sexual orientation and gender identity if it conflicts with their religious beliefs. And 20 states don’t have any protections against discrimination in foster care or adoption, according to Movement Advancement Project.
The Supreme Court is expected to rule next summer on a case that could change the adoption rights of same sex couples. In 2018, Catholic Social Services sued the City of Philadelphia after it stopped contracting with the organization because CSS wouldn’t consider same-sex couples for adoption of foster children. The case was heard before the Supreme Court on Nov. 4, 2020, and after arguments it appears that the court could side with CSS, according to the Associated Press.
If the court rules in favor of Catholic Services, it could be devastating for LGBTQ parents seeking to adopt, Leslie Cooper, deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's LGBT and HIV Project, told NBC News. “LGBT people would face discrimination in every state in the country, because many states partner with private agencies.”
Human Rights Campaign has a list of child welfare agencies that work with the LGBTQ community with foster care and adoptive parents. Riley works with many same-sex couples interested in adoption at A Rainbow’s End, and California is one of 25 states that prohibits discrimination against same-sex couples in adoption and in foster care.
“I feel people are so open-minded now – maybe because we’re in California,” she said. “I don’t feel there are a lot of hurdles.”
