Issue of Gays and Lesbians Parenting - Research Paper Example

Gays and lesbian couples can bring children into their marriage in various ways. One of the methods is insemination where for a lesbian couple, one of them may be inseminated with sperm from a donor and give birth to a child. The other partner then becomes a legal parent to the child through a step-parent adoption. The other method is surrogacy mostly used by gay couples. One of the partners donates sperm to a surrogate mother who will carry the unborn child. The other partner will also become apparent through a step-parent adoption. This arrangement however applies where the laws of their state allow. Another arrangement is an adoption where same-sex couples can jointly adopt a child such that both of them are legal parents of the child. The adoption can be done independently or through an adoption agency (April 1993).

When one partner becomes a parent through step-parent adoption, legal procedures enensurehat the two are legal parents of the child. Once they become legal parents, they have a right to live with the child, either on fa full time or part-time basis, and also to make decisions regarding the education, health, and teneral well-being of the child. The legal parents are also responsible for supporting the child financially and emotionally. When a child is acquired through joint adoption, the two parents become legal parents Some gay and lesbian couples may head families with more than two or three parents. For example, in lesbian marriages, there might be men who are not romantic partners of the women, and also women in gay marriages. These can be sisters or brothers of same-sex partners (Appell, 2003).

However, in case of a breakup, the non-biological parent is likely to become disadvantaged because the two cannot agree on the custody of the child, some courts rule that the non-biological parent has no rights regarding the child despite the years that he or she has spent with the child. The court terms the child as the child of a partner. The non-biological parent may be treated as a stranger and may be denied any future contact with the child. Other courts may however the non-biological parent to be visiting the child if the court considers him or her to be an important part of the child’s life. The parent may be considered a “de facto parent” or “psychological parent, implying that he has fulfilled all his or her responsibility in nurturing the child (Australian Family Law Act 1975).

BParentingin same-sex marriages start with a lot of planning and decision-making When intending to have a child, the couplers spend a lot of time in workshops dubbed “considering parenting” where they are assisted to make complex decisions regarding parenting, hand ow to tackle the option of adopting and insemination. They also take time to explore their status in matters of whether they have adequate resources, health, and stamina, and also the stability of their marriage. Generally, they prepare themselves for the responsibility of parenting (Patterson, 2001).