Kathryn McDermott #10

My question for my exploratory essay is : Should same-sex couples be allowed to adopt children? I will be looking at why some states are banning same-sex adoption and why some are supporting it.


ARTICLE ONE


David L. Olguin, et al. "Gay-Male Couples Who Adopt: Challenging Historical and Contemporary Social Trends Toward Becoming a Family." Perspectives in Psychiatric Care42.3 (2006): 184-195. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.


Starts off by explaining why it can be stressful for same-sex couples to adopt. 
-good background knowledge to incorporate


The next page and a half talks about "the Healthy People 2010 paradigm for Determinants of Health, designed by scientists, clinicians, public health providers, mental health providers, substance abuse clinicians, national health, and state health organizations, seeks to achieve two overarching goals for the United States" (Lobaugh 185). 
-not extremely relevant to my topic, but still has useful information


The next two and a half pages talk about historical implications of homophobia, heterosexism, and sexual prejudice. Including statistics and a chart that lists what states allow it, haven't decided, or have laws against it.
-very helpful to my paper, especially information on the states


The next section discusses contemporary issues on why people do not think gay-male couples should be allowed to adopt.
-this is when I started to look clearly at both sides of the argument


Nature versus nurture, if gays adopt children will they end up gay because of socialization effects, or will they not because of their biological genes.
-very important points, most likely will incorporate them


Quotes about suicide rates in same-sex couples versus heterosexual couples 
-good statistics to include


Quote "At present, there are no valid arguments to prevent gay-male couples from adopting and raising children" (Lobaugh 191).
-still supporting my opinion


Summary: This article goes through multiple points as to why gay-male couples should or should not be able to adopt children. Overall, their points were valid and included both biological and sociological perspectives to support them. It mostly proves that adoption should be allowed with certain restrictions such as required interventions and therapy.


ARTICLE TWO


Farr, Rachel H., Stephen L. Forssell, and Charlotte J. Patterson. "Gay, Lesbian, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents: Couple and Relationship Issues." Journal of GLBT Family Studies 6.2 (2010): 199-213. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 2 Oct. 2011.


Starts off by proving that same-sex and heterosexual relationships all have emotional and romantic relationships
-good information but not too useful for me


Continues with statistics and information about sexual relations between heterosexual couples vs. lesbian couples vs. gay couples.
-completely irrelevant to my paper


Then it explains the experiment and who was being kept track of, all adoptive parents, all different sexualities
-the experiment is exactly what I need


Explains the materials and the procedure
-not important to me


Listed the results and conclusion
-key information, probably will use


Summary: This article was of a longitudinal study of heterosexual couples, lesbian couples, and gay couples that have all adopted children. It measured their happiness together, their attachment to each other, and how well they worked as a family. The results turned out practically all identical between all three couple types. This supports that there should be nothing against same-sex couple adoption in the states.