American Psychiatric Association
The American Psychiatric Association adopted the following position statement at its November 2002 meeting:
The American Psychiatric Association supports initiatives that allow same-sex couples to adopt and co-parent children and supports all the associated legal rights, benefits, and responsibilities which arise from such initiatives.
The American Psychiatric Association adopted the following position statement at its December 1997 meeting:
1. Sexual orientation should not be used as the sole or primary factor in child custody decisions.
2. Gay and lesbian couples and individuals should be allowed to become parents through adoption, fostering and new reproductive technologies, subject to the same type of screening used with heterosexual couples and individuals.
3. Second-parent adoptions which grant full parental rights to a second, unrelated adult (usually an unmarried partner of a legal parent), are often in the best interest of the child(ren) and should not be prohibited solely because both adults are of the same gender.
4. Custody determinations after dissolution of a gay relationship should be done in a manner similar to other custody determinations.