Same- and Opposite-Sex Couples May Have Different Adoption Preferences

Many prospective adoptive couples don’t care about the gender of their children, found Dr. Abbie Goldberg, Assistant Professor of Psychology at Clark University, in a new study. Gay men are, however, more likely to have a preference, and heterosexual men are least likely. Opposite-sex couples are more likely to prefer girls than those in same-sex relationships.

The interesting part of this study for me is that there seems to be no strong correlation between the gender of the parents and the preferred gender of their child. Some lesbians wanted girls, others boys, and the same for gay men. (News coverage of the study is sketchy on the exact numbers, however.)

Goldberg also noted, “This study represents the first investigation known to date that explores the child gender preferences of both heterosexual and sexual minority preadoptive parents.” I commend her for looking at both and tracing our similarities and our differences, giving us a fuller view of parenting overall. I’ve seen far too many parenting studies that assume heterosexuality but look at areas where one might hypothesize that sexual orientation makes a difference.

Goldberg’s previous work (see my 2007 interview with her) looked at how biological and non-biological lesbian moms negotiated their family roles and how couples were successful in doing so. She has also studied adults who grew up with at least one lesbian, gay or bi parent, and in particular, how they come out about their parents.