Pros and Cons for Choosing Gay Adoptive Parents in Colorado
Being a birth mother, you can choose from a diverse list of adoptive parents to adopt your child. Depending on how diverse you want to go with your decision, gay adoption may be the best option for you. Choosing a gay couple for your Colorado adoption, whether it be two mothers or two fathers, can affect your child’s life in both positive and negative ways. There are many pros and cons to gay adoption that you may want to think about when deciding which adoptive parents you want to adopt your child. Some pros are that in a gay adoption, you are giving the gay couple you choose the ability to adopt a baby that they cannot have on their own. They can also raise your child as their own and show them that it’s okay to have two moms or two dads, raising your child to accept all different people no matter their sexuality and be more understanding. Some cons are that your child’s family will receive a lot of discrimination, which could affect your child’s psychological factors, including their mental health. These are all plausible things that could happen in your child’s life if you choose gay adoption, but it could be the best decision of your life. Here at Adoption Choices of Colorado, we want you to have the best information possible when it comes to deciding your child’s adoptive parents. Putting your child up for adoption is hard enough, so having us as a resource throughout the entire adoption process is important. We have so many different choices for adoptive parents, so if gay adoptive parents aren’t right for you, that’s okay! You get to decide everything in your adoption plan. You have the final say in everything, so weigh in every option possible to give your child a great life.
If you need adoption help now, please call or text us at 303-670-4673 (HOPE) or visit us at Adoption Choices of Colorado.
Pros for Choosing LGBTQ+ Adoption
There are many pros to choosing gay adoption for your child. This decision can benefit your child in multiple ways and it could help them grow to be a kind and supportive person. Having that connection with their adoptive parents, no matter their genders is a huge part of growing up. Keep that in mind when making your decision. It could be the best thing you ever decide for your child and the gay adoptive parents.
- Your Baby Will Grow Up to be More Understanding
Unfortunately, today, some people don’t support same-sex couples being together, but having your child have a same-sex couple as his or her adoptive parents, will allow them to grow up to this family dynamic being normalized. What is normalized in society is usually a mom, a dad, and their children. Two moms or two dads aren’t as normalized due to media and stigmas surrounding the LGBTQ+ community. With two moms or two dads, your child will be more accepting and understanding of different parent pictures.
Your child will see that it is okay to love who they love, no matter the gender. He or she will be able to have no worries about loving who they love as they’re growing up. They will have this supportive family that will teach them to be kind to people no matter what their sexuality is. His or her adoptive parents will support them and accept them no matter who they bring home to meet the family. This is a huge positive to gay adoption because you know that you will give your child an accepting and supportive family.
- You, Will, Give the Adoptive Parents a Child They Can’t Have on Their Own
Same-sex couples are not able to have children of their own due to physicalities and how the reproductive system works. Adoption is a great option for gay couples if they want to have a family. They can give a child a loving and accepting home when they can’t do that with their own biological child. They can raise your child like it’s their own and show them that two moms or two dads is normal.
Growing up gay and realizing that you can’t have children of your own with your future partner is hard, but adoption makes it so that they can have a child to raise with their partner. You are able to do that for them as a birth mother. You will be giving a loving and accepting couple a child to raise as their own, and they will be forever grateful to you for giving them this ability.
Pros for Choosing LGBTQ+ Adoption
Choosing any pair of adoptive parents can have its cons, but with gay adoption in Colorado, your child could be negatively impacted by outside people. His or her psychological factors may be affected due to unsupportive people, but it is not your child’s fault and neither is it yours if you choose gay adoption.
- Discrimination
As I mentioned previously, there are people who don’t support same-sex couples and gay people in general, so your child’s family may face some backlash. There may be people who judge your child’s adoptive parents and his or her family dynamic. This can cause a lot of issues growing up. Discrimination against LGBTQ+ people and couples is still going on to this day, and it could affect how your child sees his or her adoptive family.
This could also affect your child’s mental health, and they may think it is their fault for being a part of this non-traditional family even though it’s not, and it’s not your fault either. You may blame yourself for putting your child in this hard situation, but everything will be okay if loving parents surround them.
- Psychological Factors
A huge part of the cons of choosing gay adoptive parents is that your child may have higher rates of depression, drug abuse, and suicide. This was found in a statistic of teens raised by LGBTQ+ parents. Although the pros may way out the cons of this decision, we understand having that worry for your child. You want them to have the best life they can, and you wish them to be happy and healthy.
Growing up with gay adoptive parents with the discrimination it might cause may negatively affect your child. They may start to think that they are in the wrong family dynamic, but they aren’t. There are just people in the world who don’t accept it, and if you have contact with your child, you can help them understand that along with the adoptive parents raising them to be kind and accepting.
If your child has a support system around them, they will grow up with better mental health. Having that worry for your child is natural. It’s normal even if you choose closed adoption and have no communication with them, you will still worry about their well-being because they are your child, and you carried them and birthed them.
Are Gay Adoptive Parents Right For Your Child?
No matter what you choose, you will choose what is best for your child. We know that you want your child to have a happy and healthy family life that you are not able to give them. Choosing gay adoptive parents has its pros and cons, and the pros may outweigh the cons for you. This is a huge decision, and you can take as long as you need to decide the best option for your child to have the loving and supportive life you wish for them.
Here at Adoption Choices of Colorado, we want what is best for you and your child. Are gay adoptive parents right for your child after understanding what pros and cons there maybe? You can connect with an adoption caseworker and discuss all of your worries for your child and see if gay adoption is the best option by seeing adoptive parent choices. We know that you are choosing everything based on love. Whatever you choose, it’s valid, and it is the best option for you and your child and their adoptive family.
If you are facing an unplanned pregnancy and want to learn more about your adoption options, contact Adoption Choices of Colorado by email, phone, or text: Email Us, Text us: 720-371-1099, Call us: 303-670-4673 (HOPE). If you are hoping to adopt, please contact us here.
Meet the Author: Molly Allington is an aspiring author born and raised in Syracuse, New York. When she’s not watching her latest Netflix obsession, you can find her nose deep in a book or in her writing. She has been writing books since she was twelve and is in the process of trying to get her finished books published. Molly has a BA in Creative Writing from Southern New Hampshire University. With her writing, she is hoping to share supportive information and help as many people as possible. Once she starts her own family, she is wanting to adopt.
Stephanie joined the Adoption Choices family in 2014 as the Child Placement Supervisor. Her love for adoption began in first grade when she made friends with twins adopted from Vietnam. Her heart grew strong over the years for adopted children and ultimately led her to graduate school where she continued her focus to her dream of working in the adoption field. Stephanie earned a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Denver in 2001. Over the past 15 years, Stephanie has worked as a pregnancy counselor and as an adoptive parent counselor for foster care, international adoption and domestic adoption, writing hundreds of home studies for families, and helping build their forever families. Stephanie is married and has three boys ages 12, 9, and 5. Together with her family she enjoys riding bike, playing games, watching her three sons compete in their various sporting and musical activities and go on vacations.
Christy Ikeler, is our Executive Director and Birth Parent Director. Christy has been with Adoption Choices Team for 18 years, since opening the doors in 2002! Christy has a true passion for what she does and her true love is working with and helping each birth parent. Whether she is up all night on the phone talking with them, taking them to doctors appointments, out for their favorite treat, providing counseling or at the hospital during labor and delivery, Christy is very involved every step of the way. She has a contagious laugh and a spunky personality that our birth moms all can bond with and relate to. As an adoptive parent herself, adoption holds a very special place in her heart and she can relate on every level with both birth parents and adoptive parents. In her free time Christy loves spending time with her daughter, gardening, baking and taking vacations with her family. Christy is an excellent leader for our team at Adoption Choices and is truly one of a kind!! As Executive Director, Christy spends time with the staff, birth parents and adoptive families in order to ensure that the agency is running smoothly. She has placed a huge emphasis on community outreach and programs for birth parents. Christy loves the opportunity to lead the agency into a brighter future.
Ms. Mackenzie has built a successful counseling career over the past 20 years, supporting mothers and families, people of all ages and genders, students, community professionals and fellow clinicians. Liv values a diverse professional focus, including the entrepreneurial life of a sole proprietor, the evaluative process of certifying foster/adoptive homes, the insightful and mindful one-on-one one work with enthusiastic clients, and serving as an advocate for underserved populations. Liv is a Licensed Professional Counselor and holds a BA in Pre-Law and Economics from American University, an MA in Counseling from Adams University and a certificate in Human Resource Management from Villanova University. Away from work you will find Liv spending time in nature, biking to the farmer’s market and adventuring with her family.
Catherine A. Madsen, joined the Adoption Choices family as legal counsel in 2013. Catherine is responsible for providing legal guidance to the Agency, training and updating staff on developments in adoption law and legislation, and program development. Catherine
Virginia Frank is an adoption attorney accredited since 1991 with the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. Ms. Frank is a leader in the field of private adoption and has completed over 4,000 adoptions in her career. Ms. Frank has a law degree from Oklahoma City University and a BA in both Political Science and Communications from the University of Oklahoma.
Cassidie has been with Adoption Choices since 2015, she has her bachelors in Interdisciplinary Affairs with concentrations in both Sociology and Business Management. Cassidie has additional training in Victim Advocacy, foster care and has been working in women’s services for over 10 years. Cassidie has always had a heart for adoption and it was her career dream to work in adoption. She started off doing volunteer work for advocacy programs, adoption organizations and worked in High Risk Maternal Fetal Medicine through the University of Colorado Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Colorado. Cassidie is also blessed to have personally experienced an adoption of her own in 2012, completing her family of five! Cassidie loves what she does as a case worker from initial phone calls, meetings, doctor appointments, interaction with the adoptive families to delivery and counseling. Cassidie has a passion for those in need and strives to help make a difference in the lives of the people she meets. She is a firm believer in being kind, compassionate and open minded in all situations. “Unless you’ve walked in their shoes, there’s no place for judgment. A kind word or compliment can go a long way!” The bittersweet moments in adoption reminds Cassidie each and every time, why she loves what she does!