Gay and Lesbian Pregnancy
What are some issues for gay and lesbian couples during pregnancy?
Gay and lesbian couples typically raise children in three contexts. The first is where one of the partners is already the biological parent of a child. The second is where the same-sex couple agrees to have a child and plan that one of them will be the biological parent, and that, after birth, they will raise the child together. The third is where the same-sex couple seeks to adopt or become the foster parents of a child who is not biologically related to either of them.
Approximately 250,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples in the United States, but the rights of these parents “vary widely among states,” in that only about half allow second-parent adoptions by the unmarried partner of an existing legal parent and a handful of state courts have ruled these adoptions not permissible under state laws. Yet another estimate is that at least 270,000 children are being raised by same-sex couples; this number does not include single lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender parents. It seems likely that same-sex parents are underreported in the Census. (Another cited statistic is that between one million and nine million children are raised in families with at least one gay parent). Same-sex couples are raising children via single parent adoptions in all states except Florida.
