OA&FS has welcomed LGBT prospective adoptive parents into our infant adoption program since we opened our doors in 1985. • About 27% of the adoptive placements at OA&FS are with same sex families. • Typically, our pool of prospective adoptive parents is comprised of 18% same-sex families. Book Recommendation: • These families come to OA&FS from Dan Savage’s “The Kid” throughout the U.S. • Dan Savage, author, media pundit, What research tells us. journalist, and activist for the LGBT There are no systematic differences between community, is an OA&FS adoptive gay or lesbian and non-gay or lesbian parents in father and active advocate of emotional health, parenting skills, and attitudes our agency. toward parenting.1 • Get a firsthand account of LGBT Evidence shows that children’s optimal adoption through OA&FS! development is influenced more by the nature Check out his of the relationships and interactions within the book The Kid: family unit than by its particular structural form.2 What Happened After My Boyfriend and I Decided to Go Get Pregnant.

1 (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001) 2 (Perrin, 2002) Numerous well-respected authorities agree that children that a parent’s sexual orientation is irrelevant to his or of LGBT parents are as healthy, happy and well-adjusted her ability to raise a child.”. as their peers raised by heterosexual parents: • In Abbie Goldberg’s book “Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children”, she dispels the notion that children • On the basis of a remarkably consistent body of who are raised by gay and lesbian parents are more research on lesbian and gay parents and their children, likely to be bullied. “Vanfraussen, Ponjaert-Kristoffersen the American Psychological Association (APA) and and Brewaeys (2002) compared school-aged children other health professional and scientific organizations from 24 intentional lesbian-mother households with have concluded that there is no scientific evidence children from 24 heterosexual-parent families and found that parenting effectiveness is related to parental no differences in the rates of teasing between the sexual orientation. That is, lesbian and gay parents are two groups.” as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children. (APA policy resolution, June 2012.) Helping build knowledge • The American Academy of Pediatrics, the nation’s about LGBTQ adoptive families. leading pediatric authority with 57,000 members, says that children who grow up with gay and/or lesbian • In 2008, OA&FS was recognized by the Pride parents fare as well in emotional, cognitive, social and Foundation for strengthening and serving the lesbian, sexual functioning as children with straight parents. gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) • The National Association of Social Workers, with community. nearly 150,000 members, agrees that research on • OA&FS was a significant contributor to All Children gay and lesbian parenting shows a total absence of – All Families, an initiative launched by the Human pathological findings in their children. Rights Campaign to develop Promising Practices in • The Human Rights Campaign has compiled positions Adoption and Foster Care, a Comprehensive Guide to on LGBT parenting from numerous professional Policies and Practices that Welcome, Affirm and Sup- organizations. They say “The prevailing professional port Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Foster and opinion is that a parent’s sexual orientation Adoptive Parents. has nothing to do with his or her ability to be a • We were also included in the Transition to Adoptive good parent. The nation’s leading child welfare, Parenthood Project, a longitudinal study focused on psychological and children’s health organizations also the transition to adoptive parenthood among same sex have issued policy or position statements declaring couples and heterosexual couples.