While there are no current reliable gay adoption statistics for America, there are statistics on children in gay homes. In 1976, there were between 300,000 to 500,000 gay and lesbian biological parents. In 1990, 6 to 14 million children had at least one gay or lesbian parent. Between 8 and 10 million children were being raised in gay and lesbian households.

In 1999, approximately 547,000 children in foster care in the US, 117,000 legally free for adoption. There were only qualified adoptive families available for only twenty percent of them. Ten percent of the US population is homosexual, meaning a lot of couples whose biological resources for children are reduced are currently prevented from filling in the adoption gap.

Definitive studies are needed that would follow larger numbers of children over a long period of time. This would establish reliable information on gay parenting and the effects (if any) on children.

Currently, research studies are contradictory and can be influenced by the individuals or organizations that finance the study. Studies linked with conservative groups and religion often show negative effects on children from gay households. Studies that support gay parenting are often accused of being biased, the researchers supporting gay rights.

Even in areas that have gay adoption laws, gay couples adopting may find they face prejudices within the system. Mainstream assumptions on gay parenting have led to an attitude that gay parents are a child's last resort.

Often in gay adoption, parents will get harder children because social workers leave them last on the list. It is ironic that bureaucracies that believe that lesbians and gay men are not suitable parents will place children who require the most highly skilled parenting with them.

Gay families have unique strengths that help troubled children. Gay couples adopting usually accept differences, understand what it is like to be in the minority, assign different gender roles, and have the skills to be open about sexuality with children who have been sexually abused.
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4. Same Sex Adoption in the United States

Florida is the only state that has specifically banned gay adoption rights, by barring the adoption of children by gay and lesbian adults. Utah prohibited all unmarried couples, including same-sex couples, from adopting children in a bill passed in February 2000.

California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, have allowed gay adoption in specific cases. The most common way this is done is through a single person adoption. Couples who both want custody then apply for co-parent adoption.

A reason for supporting gay marriage is to ensure protection for children with gay parents. Gay parents face many legal struggles through gay adoption laws in ensuring their children have the protection of both parents. At present, in most states of America and in many countries around the world, when a child is born into a gay relationship the non-biological parent has no legal rights to the child. Similarly, gay couples who circumvent prejudicial adoption laws by having a single parent adoption have trouble when the other partner wants to adopt.

Many countries have laws in place that streamline adoption processes for step parents. Some US states that allow civil unions have introduced similar streamlining gay adoption laws for the non biological parent in a civil union, and one of the rights those supporting gay marriage ask for is the same parental rights as non-biological parents in heterosexual marriages, which ensures each child has the legal protection of two parents.