How Many Children Have Gay Parents in the US?

Question: How Many Children Have Gay Parents in the US?

Answer:

There were an estimated 300,000 to 500,000 gay and lesbian biological parents in 1976.

In 1990, an estimated 6 to 14 million children have a gay or lesbian parent.

Between 8 and 10 million children are being raised in a gay and lesbian households.

Latest statistics from the U.S. Census 2000, the National Survey of Family Growth (2002), and the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (2004) include:

• An estimated two million GLB people are interested in adopting.
• An estimated 65,500 adopted children are living with a lesbian or gay parent.
• More than 16,000 adopted children are living with lesbian and gay parents in California, the highest number among the states.
• Gay and lesbian parents are raising four percent of all adopted children in the United States.
• Adopted children with same-sex parents are younger and more likely to be foreign born.

SOURCE:

Adoption and Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay Parents in the United States, Author(s): Gary Gates, Lee M.V. Badgett, Jennifer Ehrle Macomber, Kate Chambers of the Urban Institute.

Working with Gay and Lesbian Adoptive Parents

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