LibGuides: LGBTQIA+ Resources: Parenting & Adoption

LGBTQIA+ Issues

These pages provide information and resources on some of the issues facing the LGBTQIA+ community. Select from the topics, below:

LGBTQIA+ Parenting & Adoption

As with the issue of Marriage Equality, the rights of LGBTQIA+ people to adopt and/or retain custody to their children are not consistently protected in the United States. The following advocacy groups offer information on adoption rights and parenting issues faced by LGBTQIA+ individuals.

Three Decades of Research on LGBTQIA+ Parenting

See the full video and additional resources at Raise A Child.

Parenting & Adoption

Parenting (HRC)
Provides information on Adoption, Assisted Reproduction, Foster Parenting, and more.
Family Equality Council
"Family Equality Council connects, supports, and represents the three million parents who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender in this country and their six million children."
LGBT Parenting (ACLU)
Offers a brief overview of the issue, along with additional resources and maps of states with rules about same-sex adoption and fostering.
Professional Organizations on LGBT Parenting
Provides responses in support of LGBT parenting by major professional organizations, including the American Psychological Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, and others.
Families/Parenting
Addresses the legal issues of lesbian parents.
All Children – All Families (HRC)
"The All Children – All Families (ACAF) initiative seeks to enhance LGBT cultural competence among child welfare professionals and educate LGBT people about opportunities to become foster or adoptive parents to waiting children."
International Adoption (HRC)
Outlines the steps to adopting an international child, as an LGBT parent, and provides links to useful sites.
Intercountry Adoption: Adoption by LGBT Persons
Tools and links from the U.S. Department of State regarding international adoption by prospective LGBT parents.
The LGBT Foster Care Project
"The LGBT Foster Care Project is a collaborative project between the Center and the New York City Administration for Children’s Services (ACS). The overall purpose of the LBGT Foster Care Project is to partner with NYC foster care agencies and ACS to increase the number of homes for all youth with a special emphasis on LGBTQ youth."
Frequently Asked Questions From Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Prospective Foster and Adoptive Parents
Offered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Administration for Children & Families, this site provides answers to common questions about adoption and fostering by LGBT individuals.
Raise A Child
"The mission of our young nonprofit is to encourage the LGBT community to build families through fostering and adoption."