COMMENTARY |
It’s About Their Children
South Burlington, VT 05401-5039
Abbreviations: COPACFH, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health
The Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health’s (COPACFH) statement on coparent adoption1 has generated unexpected controversy. This statement, which is about children, is intended to support all children’s rights to parenting and legal protections. It has been criticized as too accepting of homosexual parenting and nontraditional lifestyles. A conscious decision was made by the Committee to not attempt to undertake evaluation of adult lifestyles. Rather, we aim to acknowledge that a considerable number of children currently live in families headed by gay and lesbian parents, and that those children have been legally shortchanged.
Regardless of differing views about sexual orientation issues, can we not agree that the children of gay and lesbian parents deserve our care and also deserve the same legal rights that all other American children enjoy?
The feature of the COPACFH’s statement that seems to have elicited the most criticism has been our review of research data related to gay and lesbian parenting in the accompanying technical report.2 The COPACFH review did not reveal poor outcomes related to gay and lesbian parenting. Those who oppose this statement based on religious and moral positions take exception with the reported studies, which we consulted. In fact, our review was scrupulous and strictly confined to only peer review studies. Since publication of the COPACFH statement and technical report additional literature, notably that of Gartrell and associates,3,4 are consistent with our conclusions. If there are reasons to decry gay and lesbian parenting, these were not found in our review of the medical literature.
The Editor of Pediatrics published several letters in a recent issue.5–8 Additional letters are found in this issue. Farnsworth’s9 letter is representative of those critics who take a religious and moral position of opposition. I have received numerous personal communications in the same vein. They are offended. They argue for their personal views.
We at COPACFH are sensitive to these feelings of our valued colleagues. But I urge them to reread and study the statement and technical report and learn about these children. They are in your practices. The letter by Martín-Ancel10 is of special note. Although she disagrees with some of our findings, she broadens our understanding of these families and presents her argument in a neutral fashion. This understanding for even nontraditional families is essential if we are to fulfill our AAP mission of dedication to all infants, children, adolescents, and families.
I am sure that the children of gay and lesbian parents deserve our care and that they deserve the same legal rights as all American children. I believe that homosexuality is determined in utero, while others insist that it is a choice, but I am sure that in our nation these people are allowed to have children. Although the families headed by 2 lesbian mothers or 2 gay fathers are nontraditional in my view and sinful in the belief system of others, I am sure, nonetheless, that they are families. To not recognize these children, to deny any person the right of a child, or to say that these are not families, even if we do not agree with them, smacks of intolerance, bigotry, and is inconsistent with our nation’s discrimination laws.
The COPACFH welcomes and even solicits feedback and comments from our Fellows. After all, we are all pediatricians and our focus is on children. Can not this controversy be used as an opportunity to increase the dialogue regarding the needs of these children? Can we not help one another better understand these nontraditional families? Because when COPACFH wrote the statement on coparent adoption and the accompanying technical report, we did not write about gay or lesbian persons. We wrote about their children.
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FOOTNOTES |
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Received for publication May 17, 2001; Accepted May 17, 2002.
Address correspondence to Joseph F. Hagan, MD, 410 Shelburne Rd, South Burlington, VT 05401-5039. E-mail: hagan{at}together.net
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REFERENCES |
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 TOP REFERENCES |
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- American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents.
Pediatrics.2002; 109
:339
–340
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Perrin EC and the AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. Technical report: coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents.
Pediatrics.2002; 109
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–344
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Gartrell N, Banki A, Hamilton J, et al. The National Lesbian Family Study 2: interviews with mothers of toddlers. Am J Orthopsychiatry.1999; 69 :362 –369[Web of Science][Medline]
- Gartrell N, Banki A, Reid N, et al. The National Lesbian Family Study 3: interviews with mothers of five-year-olds. Am J Orthopsychiatry.2000; 70 :542 –548[Web of Science][Medline]
- Guttery EG. Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents [letter].
Pediatrics.2002; 109
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[Free Full Text] - Friday GA Jr. Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents [letter]. Pediatrics.2002; 109 :1192 –1193
- Field SS. Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents [letter].
Pediatrics.2002; 109
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[Free Full Text] - Riggs SC. Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents [letter]. Pediatrics.2002; 109 :1193
- Farnsworth RY. Adoption by same-sex parents [letter].
Pediatrics.2002; 110
:419
[Free Full Text] - Martín-Ancel A. Adoption by same-sex parents [letter]. Pediatrics.2002; 110 :419 –420
PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2002 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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