Recently a surrogate mother gave birth to a child, but decided that she wanted to keep the baby upon discovering that the parents were to be two men. This is an example of one of the many ways homosexual couples and people are unfairly discriminated against. The couple, Gordan Lake and Manuel Santos, have been fighting for custody in Thailand since, Jan. 2015, when the baby (Carmen) was born. They are finally flying back home to Spain as a happy family.

There are many issues that caused this case to become the nightmare that it was for Santos and Lake. First, the child was born in Thailand, where same-sex marriages are not recognized. Also, Carmen was born just before commercial surrogacy was banned. Luckily for the family, the court ruled that since the child born before the law was enacted, that the couple had rightful custody. The surrogate mother, Patidta Kusolsang, handed the baby over to the two men and they left the hospital with Carmen. When Lake and Santos tried to leave Thailand and return to Spain, Kusolsang changed her mind and would not sign Carmen’s passport. Her argument was that she thought Carmen would be going home to an “ordinary” family.

All around the world discrimination is occurring against homosexual people. Although, same-sex marriage is now legal in all 50 states, some people are still finding a way to treat them as inferior.

Should same-sex parents be able to adopt children?

• Yes
• No

View Results

 Loading ...

Same sex couples are put through many challenges when it comes to adoption because people believe that a child needs to be surrounded by a mother and a father. According to the Guttmacher Institute, more than 51 percent of pregnancies are unplanned. In the United states there are more than 13.6 million single parents and 40 to 50 percent of marriages lead to divorce.

Same-sex parents come prepared when it comes to adopting because of the challenges that come with it the process. They are planning life envisioning their adoptive child in it. They have made the choice to become parents. Unplanned pregnancies are at at such a high rate while these couples can not have a child until they make a decision to have one. If so many parents are single or split apart, and so many pregnancies are unplanned, it would be safe to say that if people are concerned about a child having two parents, same-sex couples would be great candidates.

Worldwide there are about 132 children who are orphans according to SOS Children’s villages. In America alone, there are approximately 400,000 children who are in the foster care system. Many psychological disorders can come from the life of a child in foster care, most prominently is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. They live with a family they are not allowed to get close to because an average stay only lasts about a month or so.

The amount of same-sex couples that are looking for children to adopt would reduce the amount of children in these situation. The selfishness of people who think that they are superior to people of a different sexual orientation, keeps many kids from progressing in life. Instead of giving these proper education and a normal, consistent life, these children are going in and out of the foster system, where they endure the many challenges that come along with it.

Adoption is not the only area where homosexual people are discriminated. In North Carolina and Mississippi, anti-gay laws have been set in place allowing businesses, churches and religious charities to decline service to gay, lesbian, transgender and bi-sexual people. This is allowed if it violates a persons religious beliefs.

Laws like these explicitly violate the rights of people as equal citizens. We as American’s have the opportunity to change this because same-sex marriage is legal. People should not be discriminated against because of their sexual orientation and this includes the right to adopt a child.