American Civil Liberties Union, New York, NY. (1) Overview of Lesbian and Gay Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care.
Although we update the content on these pages frequently and make every effort to ensure the information is as accurate as possible, information of this kind does change quickly therefore, some information may be out-of-date and/or contain inaccuracies, omissions, or typographical errors.
Please note that the information on these pages is for educational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional legal advice. 5įor more information on LGBT Adoption Laws, check out our state by state info page. LGBT Adoption Rights: States that explicitly allow same-sex couples to petition for a second parent adoption include California, Colorado, Connecticut, Washington D.C., Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Vermont.Couples may be required to be in a legally recognized relationship, such as a marriage, civil union, or domestic partnership. LGBT Parenting Statistics: Same-sex couples in all states can petition for joint adoption statewide.LGBT Adoption Rights & Gay Adoption State Laws The median age of same-sex parents who adopt is 42, as opposed to 44 for comparable opposite-sex parents.Among couples with children under the age of 18 in the home, 13% of same-sex parents have an adopted child, compared to just 3% of different-sex parents. LGBT parenting statistics: Same-sex parents in the United States are four times more likely than different-sex parents to be raising an adopted child.Lesbian and Gay adoption statistics: More than 16,000 adopted children are living with lesbian and gay parents in California, the highest number in the United States.More than 16,000 same-sex couples are raising an estimated 22,000 adopted children in the United States.Gay and lesbian parents are raising four percent of all adopted children in the United States.
An estimated two million LGBT people are interested in adopting.Researchers estimate the total number of children nationwide living with at least one gay parent ranges from 6 to 14 million.Here are some additional gay adoption statistics supporting LGBT adoption rates in the US: