Dear Future President,

If you knew there was a way for thousands of more children to get adopted every year, would you be in support of it? What if I told you there is a way? The truth is that there is, and it's through the legalization of LGBT adoption. “For every straight couple, there are five same-sex couples willing to adopt”. LGBT couples want to adopt children and want to be able to start their family.

57% of people say gays should have the right [to adopt], 40% say they should not. This topic has been very controversial and has many different sides to it and there are many different viewpoints to both sides. I believe that LGBT adoption should indeed be legal and as easy as an process as it is for heterosexual couples. After being without a family and going day by day wanting to feel the love from a family, can you picture the faces of a child when they are told they are being adopted? The happiness and love could be felt by so many more children if adoption agencies weren't turning away LGBT couples. One reason adoption agencies may be turning away LGBT parents is because they believe the child will not develop the proper way, the way it could with a mother and father. While this may be a widely believed opinion, research does show that it is not true. An article shares that during a study on children of different parent types, that there were more similarities than differences between the children. In fact, children of gay fathers had busy social lives and the majority of the children in the study were adjusting well to family life and school. These facts show that there may be even more advantages, than disadvantages to having gay parents. If the data shows that child development is no different between parent types, why must people be so mean and one-sided on the topic? Do they really believe that children living without any parents is better than having parents of the same-sex? Studies show that children living in an institution where the care is extremely substandard can have lasting developmental impact on children including problems forming healthy attachments and deficits in neurological and cognitive abilities and physical growth. I find it hard to believe that they can truly think children having no parents of their own is really the best option. If they aren't able or willing to adopt the children themselves, why hold other couples back. The adoption of children by any parent type should be accepted by everyone as it benefits children and everyone should be in favor of that.

While it is true that some LGBT couples have the legal ability, in some states, only one parent can legally adopt the child. In this case, the non legal guardian has no rights to the child, they cannot claim custody of their child in the event of a breakup or divorce and in the event of a death of the legal guardian, a judge would have the final decision on what happens to the child. This is absolutely insane, why would it ever make sense to pull a child away from their parent because the parent isn’t allowed to adopt them. In no way does it make sense to only allow one parent to adopt as it brings about so many unnecessary problems for not only the parents, but the children. I can almost guarantee that a child would pick to stay with their non-legal guardian than to go back into the adoption process, so why must this be an event a judge needs to be involved in. Do the two separate parents have different roles as parents? Absolutely. Does that mean one parent is more of a guardian or a better guardian? Absolutely not. Both parents should be classified as legal parents, as that's what they deserve.

Overall I strongly believe that if everyone is in favor of helping children get adopted, LGBT parents should be able to legally adopt. Everyone deserves to have a loving family as they grow up, no matter what “type” of family that is. Lets help children live a happy and educational childhood, while also fulfilling the wish of so many parents that want to provide that love and support. Together, we can change so many lives for the better.

Sincerely,

Lauren M.