MARRIAGE PREFERENCE IN ADOPTION: Michael Triplett

Is there a legal and moral obligation to prefer married parents over all others?

It's an interesting question, but it doesn't really explain the "why." Why would there be a moral obligation? Is it because there is evidence that married couples are better parents? Is it because there is evidence that children will be harmed if not raised by married parents?

The much-heralded research alleging that children do better when raised by BIOLOGICAL married mothers and fathers is of little use in making this determination. Since there is no biological link, there is no reason to believe that social science research would support the idea that married mother and fathers who adopt provide better outcomes for kids then kids raised in other "non-gold standard" situations. If there is such research, it would surely be interesting to see.

Perhaps the "moral obligation" comes from the idea that we should be promoting these kinds of parenting relationships, even if there is no evidence they are superior from other configurations. That is probably a persuasive argument, until you realize the consequences of such a preference.

It is interesting that you point to Utah as a state with a married parent preference, since it is a state that is probably able to avoid one of the biggest consequences of this policy: the disparate impact it would have on African Americans. A "married couple" preference could be disastrous when it comes to placing African American children into African American homes. There are already significant barriers to placing children into African American homes, many of them economic. When you add the additional barrier of preferring married couples--which are less common among African Americans--you suddenly have even greater problems with placing African American children--often the largest group of adoptable children--into homes of the same race.

My sense is you won't find that problematic, but there are many who would argue it is a "legal and moral obligation" not to create barriers for children to be placed in homes of the same race.
posted by Eve at 4:52 PM | link

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