It is estimated that 500,000 children are in foster care nationally and 100,000 need to be adopted. However, last year there were qualified adoptive parents for only 20,000 of these children (qtd. at www.aclu.org). Guidelines for being a qualified parent, or parents, were at one time very different from guidelines today. With the exception of some religious and private agencies, qualification is becoming more about the needs of the children to have a loving, stable home. Many minority families, older individuals, single parents, individuals with physical disabilities and families across a broad economic range are now given the chance to adopt (www.aclu.org). Gay and lesbian couples, however, are not being fully recognized as qualified parents, largely because of the myths about homosexuals raising children. Adoption should focus on placing a child in a stable and loving home, not on the sex of the parents. Every child deserves a stable home environment. Many same-sex couples can provide such a home and should not be deprived of the joys that come with parenthood.
             To deny children a loving home because their parent, or parents, are gay or lesbian is wrong. No study shows that gay or lesbian parents are unfit for the role. As stated before same-sex couples can, and do provide stable homes for children. "So many children are desperate for families to love and care for them" (Joan Garry qtd. in USA TODAY). Looking at statistics, there are hundreds of thousands of children waiting to find homes. With the qualifications of most agencies finding gays and lesbians unfit parents, those children waiting must live in an unstable environment. In fact, many foster homes have un-qualified foster parents and some are even under court supervision (www.aclu.org). There is evidence that children who stay long-term in foster homes suffer increased emotional problems, delinquency, substance abuse, and academic problems (www.acl...