In the landmark ruling of Obergefell vs. Hodges in 2014, the Supreme Court of the United States declared same-sex marriage legal in all fifty states. A year later, a federal judge overturned a law in Mississippi banning adoption by same-sex parents. This made same-sex adoption legal in all 50 states in the U.S. Here are five quick facts about same-sex adoption.
Top Five Facts: Same Sex Adoption
- Over 16,000 same-sex couples currently raise an estimated 22,000 adopted children.
- Data shows same-sex couples are four times more likely to raise an adopted child than opposite-sex couples.
- Same-sex couples raise 10% of adopted children in the U.S.
- The median age at adoption for same-sex couples is six years old, compared to ten years old for different-sex couples.
- Same-sex couples are nearly twice as likely to adopt interracially as opposite-sex couples.
Source:
“LGBT Parenting in the United States”
Gary J. Gates, The WIlliams Institute, UCLA School of Law, 2013
