Adoption of Children

Introduction

Adoption of children has in the recent past has been growing tremendously in most parts of the world. Indeed, there are many problems that those who would like to adopt children encounter. Likewise, children looking for such opportunities are not able to reach organizations or individuals offering the services. This problem has led to the establishment of organizations that deal with adoption. The intention of starting such organizations is to offer a coordinating body that would link needy children to adopting firms or individuals. As far as qualifications to handle the work are concerned, coordinators must have relevant educational qualifications and experience in child protection. In addition, the staff of such organizations should consist of people with impeccable knowledge and dedication to serve the purpose. Therefore, they are in a position to carry out activities relating to adoption more effectively. It is more personal view to support the gay adoption since I am both gay and adopted. Besides, I would also like to adopt. In essence, this would call for the need to understand both appropriate strategies and activities involved in gay adoption.

The State Gay Adoption Laws state, “Laws regarding gay adoption vary from state to state. In many cases, one partner adopts a child and then the second applies to become a second parent, or co-parent. Second parent adoptions have been granted by the courts in twenty-one states as well as in Washington, D.C (“State Gay Adoption Laws”, n.d., par 1).

Arguments for Gay Adoption

The right to legally adopt children is one of the most controversial debates that have rocked many parts of the world in the recent three decades. In most cases, gay activists have backed gay adoption because it draws support from both the legal system and the modern courts of law. However, it is important to find out whether gay adoption follows the traditionally laid down procedures, which facilitate the assessment on whether one is capable of adopting. Therefore, if someone wants to carry out gay adoption, it is important to establish whether he or she can be allowed to do so, following the traditionally prescribed criteria. Arguably, I do not support the unfounded claim, which goes against gay adoption. Often, it has been falsely labeled that gays have higher suicidal rates, poor relational stability, higher domestic violence, and promiscuity (Segura 78). These are some of the false claims, which should never be used to discourage gay adoption. In this article, I am not trying to undermine the fact that a family, which is based on father and mother is not the most appropriate structure, but it is important to given gay adoption a chance in the family set-up.

Indeed, the absence of either a father or a mother in the family has serious consequences on the upbringing of a child; in such instances one would be left with no option, but to adopt a kid. It is also unfounded knowledge that gay adoption provides poor parenting to a child. Such claims cannot be substantiated since they have neither the legal backing nor moral support. A firm society is guided by both legal and moral backings, and these should be the determinants on the best way to follow when someone wants to adopt a child. Therefore, baseless denials should never be accepted (Coontz 36).

Even though some certain sections of the church still resist the concept of gay adoption, it is important to note that some reformist have agreed in supporting this noble idea. In the last decade, gay adoption has made significant steps, which aimed at promoting this agenda, not only in the United States alone, but also other parts of the world. In an attempt to advance this noble agenda, gay activists have made several proposals regarding societal laws on same sex marriages, media shows, and medical operations on sex change. As a result, this makes it possible for legalization of gay adoption.

In some cases, gay adoption has been politicized, thus making it to sound like an ‘unethical’ act.  In essence, gay adoption can take good welfare of the adopted children, who would otherwise be left suffering. This is due to the fact that some of these children had earlier on lost either one or both of their parents, thus leaving them without the necessary parental love, care, and guidance (Cott 39). In such situations, it would not be a noble idea to leave children to suffer, thus gay adoption could be one of the best alternatives to explore. Any form of resistance to gay adoption would be like denying children their right to good ‘parental’ care. This is so because someone who undertakes risks of adopting a child performs all the necessary roles of parenting.

It can also be argued that gays make as better parents as heterosexual couples. In fact, there is no significant difference between the two. In some cases, it has been witnessed that some heterosexual couples have failed in their parenting role, by insufficiently providing for their children. There have been cases whereby heterosexual parents engage in constant domestic violence, which does not provide good environment for the upbringing of children. And, since such unfortunate events have been witnessed, it is important to give a chance to gay adoption to bring a new face in the parenting role. This would at least change the conservative views of the status quo, which act against gay adoption. This is not a matter of experimental change since I strongly believe that gay adoption will ultimately bring some better changes in the society, regarding adoption of children who have been left without parents (Cott 43).

Gay adoption carries a number of benefits, not only to the adopted children and the one who is adopting, but to the entire society. It is clear that governments set a lot of funds to take care of orphaned or abandoned children. Such funds can be directed to other useful economic activities, if gays are allowed to adopt such children. As a result, this helps in easing the pressure on government budgets to finance such activities. This will also make the governments to reduce its debts, which are secured in form of donations, grants, and borrowings. Often, donations and grants given to governments have certain conditions to be fulfilled by the one who has been financed. On the other hand, loans or borrowed funds are repaid with some charges in form of interests. Indeed, these are very costly ventures on the side of the governments and the entire nations, which can be avoided simply by allowing gays to adopt children (Coontz 47). This statement would be interpreted to mean that gay adoption is one of the solutions to the costly expenditures of the governments.

Furthermore, there is no sufficient scientific finding that gay adoption is not a good method of parenting. In this regard, it can be argued that any research that discriminates gay parenting is merely scientific bias, which has failed in its study goals and objectives (Cott 82). Therefore, it is important to state that gay adoption neither violates nor destabilizes societal groupings, but it promotes the safety of children who may have been exposed to harsh environmental risks and the reality of parentless.

The bottom line being “moral values” (Mirriam 48), the  major concern is whether morality and ethical values are enough to discriminate against these particular social groups, or should one’s sexual orientation accord his or her state discrimination, whereby the state prohibits to accord any form of recognition to gays. Before taking a clear stand on the matter, it is important to weigh the extent to which gays can be considered evil, and whether or not they should be accorded. Many opponents of gays are always concerned with how and where same-sex marriage couples get their children. One of the most common sources is the viro-technology that enables women to ’lease’ their womb, or even exchange their ova to create a complex and complicated manner of family relations in order to get babies. This also raises the controversial question of test tube babies, which is heavily criticized for degrading basic human values. Same-sex couples in the US go to such extremes in an attempt to get their own children, and these desperate measures can be said to be the cause of their opposition (Cott 57).

The Gay Adoption Agency is an organization that will be managed by experts in child health, as well as individuals who are knowledgeable in laws governing child protection. The founder has a Master’s Degree in Children Rights and Protection, and, therefore, is perfectly suited to manage such a sensitive organization. Moreover, people who will be responsible for children transferring and coordinating activities of the organization, have proved that they have passion for children and would do everything to make sure that they are safe wherever they are taken (Zimmerman 52). Sometimes, the organization would request the involvement of Christian church bodies to assist such children in realizing their dreams and aspirations.

In addition, the organization has obtained a working permit and other credibility licenses from the government, indicating that the management has abided by the regulations governing such operations (Zimmerman 85). Therefore, the organization is legally acknowledged to coordinate the processes involved in adopting the children. Definitely, the government would not interfere with the organization’s activities, thus assuring a funding organization that the process of recruitment and other actions will be free from interruptions.

Apart from facilitating adoption of needy children by other organizations, the Gay Adoption Agency will also engage in adopting children, and providing for their basic needs. Indeed, the initiative would give such children an opportunity to realize most of their potential in life. Notably, adopting children is not easy, because it involves huge financial expenditure that most organizations might not have (Zimmerman 92). Therefore, they seek financial aid from non-profit making organizations and other funding institutions to enable them to carry out their task effectively.

There are many children who, in one way or another, are unable to get basic necessities in their life. Notably, children are forced into such circumstances due to the death or inability of parents, separation from parents due to natural disasters, such as tsunamis and wars, as well as other issues beyond children’s contemplation. Indeed, they depend on whoever might come forth in their lives and save them from extreme hunger, inadequate or lack of parental love, and inability to get education, among other social needs. As children grow, they need proper support and care, and lack of such may interfere with their physical, mental, social and spiritual development.

Literally, the problems prompted the need to start an adoption agency that would help such children get the best out of their life. The problems are real and affect a number of children in the society. Therefore, people should be actively involved in reducing the impacts of such problems or eliminating them altogether. The organization will, therefore, mostly focus on the youth from the Orange County. The state of California made a decision to found an organization that would offer help to children facing such problems. The following strategy can be employed in gay adoption.

1. First, registration of children, which involves, identifying children with specific needs, identifying the cause of their problems, determining if the problem(s) warrant(s) the children to be adopted by the organization, and registering the needy children with the organization. Second, use of structures in modern organizations, which entails, identifying relevant structures that can work well with such organizations and working out modalities of enlarging the organization. For example, increasing the scope of activities the organization carries out and making sure that the communication channel used by the organization serves the purpose and is accessible by the majority. Third strategy; effective use of the proceeds that is concerned with making sure that children’s needs, such as food, clothing, shelter, education, and social life, are met.

2. It also deals with providing participants with allowances/wages, paying special allowances for exemplary performance, and making proper records of financial transactions to enhance accountability.

3. The fourth strategy that can be used is the use of local materials and labor that involves identifying locally available materials/resources, talented individuals to be in charge of sections, and locally-made tools to help reduce the cost of operation. Another strategy, which can be employed in gay adoption, is the use of trained and skilled workforce. These entails the identification of individuals skilled in specific areas, providing additional training to those involved in the operations, and initiating exchange programs, both intra and inter organizations. Finally, there is need to effect the strategy of internal evaluation. It is concerned with various activities such as identifying emerging issues in the organization and initiating programs that enable the organization’s employees to come up with new ideas. In addition, it provides extension services to tackle challenges that affect the organization’s activities and assess the progress to avoid mixing up programs.

For the activities the organization intends to implement to be successful, they should all be consistently monitored and assessed. This will be done by using an evaluation check list (Kiritz 63). Notably, each step, beginning with children’s registration to core activities of the organization would be thoroughly monitored to prevent any irregularity from occurring. Monitoring will be done on a monthly basis by continually measuring discrepancies between the objectives, expected outcomes and what has so far been achieved in the field (Kiritz 67). The activities will be monitored by experts from within and outside the organization. Regular monitoring allows for modification in case of any problem, or can lead to an early overhaul of the activities, depending on the feedback (“Center for Nonprofit Management”, 2011, p.1).

Summing up, the organization’s activities will be evaluated to assess the original objectives against the outcomes. This will justify prompt use of sponsor funds, because clear records will show that the funds were used for varies activities that support children’s needs. There will also be both internal and external evaluations to assess and comment on the organization’s activities. The use of external evaluators will show that the organization’s activities are carried out in a transparent, accountable and objective manner. The strategies and activities on gay adoption, which have been highlighted in the previous paragraphs, are very crucial for someone who wants to adopt. It is also important to note that the subject on gay adoption is a personal one, which should be left to the affected individual to decide upon. Therefore, it is not wise to oppose gay adoption.