LGBT Attorneys in Houston Can Help Overcome Challenges to Gay Adoptions

There are so many children out there who would benefit from a loving family. Yet when great candidates apply for adoptions, they’re turned down. Adoption agencies come up with all sorts of reasons why gay couples shouldn’t be approved to adopt a child. What it really comes down to is pervasive discrimination by adoption agencies against gay parents.

Anyone who’s ever seen how loving gay parents can be would never understand why adoption agencies are so judgmental. To assume that someone would not be a good parent based on their sexuality is ridiculous. Sadly, there are still a lot of people who think this way.

This is why LGBT attorneys in Houston would recommend that you go with a private adoption. When you locate the biological mother yourself, your odds of completing the adoption are so much better. But private adoptions can be expensive. It’s also very hard to find a baby to adopt. Unless you have a family or friend who’s looking for someone to adopt their baby, it can be very hard.

This means you may have no choice but to use an adoption agency. In order to combat the biases these agencies have against gay couples who want to adopt, you need the experienced LGBT attorneys of Eddington & Worley by your side.

What Biases Do Adoption Agencies Have About Gay Parents?

If you look at the things that make a good parent, they have absolutely nothing to do with sexual orientation. For example, here are some of the common traits of good parents:

• Patience
• Compassion
• Nurturing
• Generosity
• Commitment
• Financial stability

There are so many more straight parents that are unfit parents than there are gay parents. Yet, for some reason, adoption agencies look at gay parents as suspect. Some of the common misconceptions people have about gay parents include:

• Their children are harassed for having gay parents. This could be true, depending on the circumstances. You can’t control how other people raise their children. There’s no way to know or prevent how other kids treat your children at school or in the community. Although people are so much more progressive today than they were years ago. But there are still judgmental people out there.
• Gay parents sexually abuse their children. This is the most infuriating bias people hold against gay parents. There is absolutely no evidence for this assumption. Gay parents are no more likely to abuse their children than straight parents. Yet you can read articles all the time claiming that children of same-sex couples are at risk.
• Gay parents don’t have the nurturing skills necessary to be a good parent. Whether you and your partner are gay or lesbian, you’ll be impacted by this stereotype. People claim that a child needs both a mother and a father in order to develop properly. They argue that men can’t provide the nurturing that a child needs. On the opposite end of the spectrum is the argument that lesbians can’t raise a young boy the way a straight man would.
• The child will be exposed to deviant behavior at home. For some reason, adoption agencies assume that all gay couples spend their free time engaging in deviant behavior. Again, there is no legitimate basis for this. It’s just another stereotype that people still hold about gay couples.

It’s not easy to overcome these beliefs. In fact, there’s nothing your Houston LGBT lawyer can do to change their minds. All he can do is help you get your adoption approved.

How Can LGBT Attorneys in Houston Help?

When you handle your adoption yourself, the adoption agency feels no reason to be upfront with you. They’ll pretend they’re trying to get you a baby. But in the background, they may be harboring biases against you and your partner.

Once they know you have an attorney, they’ll change their tune a bit. When they know someone’s watching their every move, they may be more likely to handle your application the right way. They won’t be so inclined to deny your adoption without legitimate grounds.

Having a LGBT attorney can be a big help. They can even refer you to an adoption agency that has a reputation for finding babies for gay couples to adopt. Your chances of completing an adoption are so much better when dealing with a reputable agency.

Call and schedule a consultation with the experienced LGBT attorneys at Eddington & Worley today. Adopting a child is the biggest decision you’ll ever make. You want to make sure you have someone by your side throughout the process.