adoption Archives - Relationships Counseling Today

Facebook Adoption helps families grow

Adoption can be a very trying time for a couple facing the challenge of infertility. Desperate to be parents, some couples find they feel disillusioned with the entire process of adopting a child of their own. Facebook however, a powerful social media tool, has been slowly changing the face of the adoption process for these couples seeking to become parents. Instead of going through the traditional roads these would-be parents would face, they are taking to Facebook, creating groups that enable them to network with others in the hopes of finding a child to love.

Adoption is a process that takes its toll on a couple. Whether gay or straight, a couple facing the challenges of wanting to have a child of their own can endure great emotional turmoil as they are turned away repeatedly, either through the foster care system, or through failed fertility attempts. Facebook groups have become a place of refuge, sources of social support, and even avenues by which some couples have found a child to adopt! Couples are opting for either joining these groups via Facebook or creating videos that depict their desire to have a child and what they are looking for.

What do you think of Facebook as a tool for finding a child to adopt? Do you think it’s a safe way to grow your family? Watch the video below to see one couples’ story.

Sources: ABC News, Milford Daily News

Gay and lesbian parents better for children

Gay parents, such as singer Elton John and his husband David Furnish, are often scrutinized in their role as parents. Politicians, including Republican candidate Rick Santorum have even gone as far as to say children are better off with a parent in the prison system than to be raised by a lesbian couple. Research however, suggests otherwise. Psychologist Abbie Goldberg from Clark University in Massachusetts claims her findings suggest gay parents tend to be ‘better’ parents in that they are actively choosing parenthood. The process for them to become parents in the first place is more complicated, traditionally, than a heterosexual couple. Another point she brings up is that many gay parents also provide their children with talents heterosexual parents might not be able to.

Goldberg shares her insights in one LiveScience article:

Gay parents “tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents,” said Abbie Goldberg, a psychologist at Clark University in Massachusetts who researches gay and lesbian parenting. Gays and lesbians rarely become parents by accident, compared with an almost 50 percent accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals, Goldberg said. “That translates to greater commitment on average and more involvement.”

With the growing number of children in the foster care system, the LiveScience article also points out that gay parents are responsible for helping thousands of children in need who have been stuck in the system. Children adopted by gay and lesbian couples included minority children and children with special needs.

One researcher, David Brodinsky, of the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute shares:

“When you think about the 114,000 children who are freed for adoption who continue to live in foster care and who are not being readily adopted, the goal is to increase the pool of available, interested and well-trained individuals to parent these children,” Brodzinsky said.

Check out the LiveScience article for more information on the benefits gay parents pose for children. What are your thoughts? What do you think of gay and lesbian couples becoming parents?

Sources: Why gay parents may be the best parents

Gay parents better than straight parents, what research says