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Respecting All Families
Respecting All Families
Todd Berg and Chad Long were in the fifth year of their committed relationship when they decided they were ready to be parents together. After filling out paperwork in January 2001 and completing two months of questioning and home study, Todd and Chad received a phone call from their local adoption agency that a North Dakota birth mother had selected them to adopt her son. However, just days before the child was to arrive, the agency called the two prospective parents to tell them that they could not adopt the child. Apparently, the child's foster parents had learned of the birth mother's wishes to place the child in a two-dad family and threatened the local agency with media attention. That, combined with pressures from an influential opponent of gay adoption within the North Dakota Department of Human Services, caused the agency to reconsider placing the child in the care of Todd and Chad. They deemed that placing the boy in their home was not in the best interests of the child. Only through a grueling process of finding another agency and undergoing more weeks of home study could Todd and Chad finally bring their son Jensen into their loving home.[i]
Stories like this are taking center stage in the fight to achieve basic fairness for gay and lesbian families. Some voices of intolerance are launching efforts to ban adoptions by gay couples. This debate centers on questions about the capability of gay parents, the psychological effects that gay parenting has on children, and the cultural opposition to gay relationships.
To read the full article complete with footnote citations, click here.
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