Ban on unmarried adoptions cleared for ballot

[Butters 0]

Ark. proposal would keep gays from becoming foster or adoptive parents

Yes, there are still people who believe that the heterosexuals on Jerry Springer, Maury Povich, etc... can rear children better than homosexuals.

"That looks dangerous." Leopold Stotch

[lawrocket 3]

Gee. That's looking out for kids, isn't it? There are lots of kids out there who need a home. Life in foster care, changing homes regularly, is apparently a better option than a gay or umarried person.

You know, I don't look at it as the choice between heterosexual Jerry Springer couples and wonderful gay families or individuals. Rather, I see it as, "Can this person be a good parent to a child?"


p.s. - I have long thought that loosening adoption laws would be a good way of decreasing the number of abortions in this country. It's so difficult to get stateside kids that people are going international to adopt children. If parents think that it would be easier to get children here in the US, I would reckon that more prospective mothers would choose life over abortion. This is the sort fo shit that makes prospective mothers think, "I am not having a baby who will spend childhood in foster care."

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[labrys 0]

By this reasoning, should a child born to an unmarried single woman or to an unmarried couple be taken away and placed in foster care? It's not very different from my point of view.

If they can find a way to justify not allowing single people and unmarried couples from fostering or adopting then the same rules should apply to everyone.

Owned by Remi #?

[lummy 4]

I Have a friend who's adopted overseas twice now. Before she adopted the second time, I asked why she doesn't just save the time and money and adopt locally. The way she explained it to me, it's not that domestic adoptions are terrribly difficult. The problem with domestic adoptions is that the natural parents can come back months or even years later and demand their kid back.
Personally, I wouldn't want to take a chance on having a child that I've loved and raised taken away because Mommy had a change of heart years down the road.

I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. I promise not to TP Davis under canopy.. eat sushi, get smoochieTTK#1

[Squeak 17]

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This is the sort fo shit that makes prospective mothers think, "I am not having a baby who will spend childhood in foster care."

I think that would be a VERY small component of the reasons for terminating a pregnacy

You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

[sandi 0]

Okay, begin rant.

I’m a single mom and I find it incredibly irritating that anyone would suggest that someone who is not married is incapable of being a good parent. There are plenty of bad parents out there who are married. I have a four year old and I have considered adopting since I would love to have more children and I don’t anticipate ever getting married again. I just can’t imagine going to an adoption agency and saying I have a happy, healthy, amazing little girl whom I have loved, cared for, and supported by myself since she was born. I also have (or will have by the time I would be adopting) a PhD in developmental psychology, so expertise in child development, also stable job, home in nice neighborhood, etc. I can’t fathom them telling me none of that matters, the only consideration is that I’m not married.

Single does not equal loser or imply bad parenting skills. What kids need is a loving, stable home. It doesn’t matter if that home has a mom and a dad, two moms, two dads, only a mom, only a dad, or parents who simply chose to live together and not marry. Legal marriage is a piece of paper not a qualification to be a good parent. I don’t think marital status or sexual orientation should matter if someone is willing to provide a good home to a child who needs one.

I’m amazed at the level of ignorance in this country.

End rant

[Amazon 7]

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I’m amazed at the level of ignorance in this country.

I am not..... and I fully expect to see far more of it as the far right rolls out more of this kind of crap as a means to energize their "base" into getting out to vote.

[peregrinerose 0]

Quote

I Have a friend who's adopted overseas twice now. Before she adopted the second time, I asked why she doesn't just save the time and money and adopt locally. The way she explained it to me, it's not that domestic adoptions are terrribly difficult. The problem with domestic adoptions is that the natural parents can come back months or even years later and demand their kid back.

This is total bullshit. I'm adopting out of foster care, in the process now of matching with children. When parents lose their children to the state, in PA at least it takes 22 months for parental rights to be terminated (time varies by state). During that 22 months, reunion is the goal. Once parental rights are terminated, that's it, parents have absolutely no claim to these kids. There are 100,000 kids in the US legally free for adoption and bouncing around the foster care system. A majority of them age out of the system without ever getting adopted. More people need to get off their asses and hold off on their own breeding a year or two and give some of these kids a chance.

If you adopt in-state, the state will pay for all of the fees and most provide a stipend to the parents until the child is 18. Several states offer reciprocity to other states. There are 16 or so that will pay for all the bills if I (PA resident) adopt from their states. We are staying in-state though, so if the child has extended family they are close to, they can still maintain relationships there.

HOWEVER, most people want infants, and in the US, infants in foster care have fetal alcohol syndrome, disabilities, siblings, or are minorities, so 'not good enough' for the people that go blow their money on kids overseas. Private adoptions are somewhat more likely for that healthy WASP kid most parents want, but also more legally risky (ie mom decides at the last minute to keep the kid just after birth., or later depending on the state and whether they signed over parental rights... this is the only grain of truth in what your friend said). There are not a lot of private adoptions available.

PA has a bunch of agencies that do the recruiting/training of adoptive parents. I have been gathering information for years on this, so had a list that were recommended to me by patients and collegues over the years. I interviewed about a dozen of the agencies, and narrowed it down to two. One will not work with gays, singles, etc, and they frown on non-Christian adoptive parents. I ruled that one out... not because I'm gay, but because to me, that agency didn't work in the best interests of the children based on that policy alone. So I am working with another one. It's also Christian, but puts the kids needs first and will worth with any person who truly wants to give a kid a home.

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[Nightingale 0]

The issue isn't so much with the state terminating rights; it's with voluntary relinquishment of rights. Remember Baby Jessica? That's every adoptive parent's nightmare. It's a lot less likely to happen if the birth parents are on another continent.

[peregrinerose 0]

I know... and I said that was an issue, however the person who said that parents can come after US adoptive kids year later is full of shit given that so many are in foster care and parental rights are terminated by the state. Parents coming back later is a total non issue in those situations. But no one wants to give those kids a chance

Do or do not, there is no try -Yoda

[mnealtx 0]

Stupid law - there's single folks, unwed couples and same-sex couples that could /do make fine parents, and there's single folks, unwed couples and same-sex couples that shouldn't be allowed within 50 yards of a kid lest their fucktardness rub off on them.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[Amazon 7]

WOO HOO.. more common ground..

Careful Mikey you dont want to agree with me very often....some of the others will start calling you a liberal.

[Nightingale 0]

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Stupid law - there's single folks, unwed couples and same-sex couples that could /do make fine parents, and there's single folks, unwed couples and same-sex couples that shouldn't be allowed within 50 yards of a kid lest their fucktardness rub off on them.

There's also married hetero couples who shouldn't be allowed within 50 yards of a kid.