‘Married with children’ an option for gay men

Posted on September 27, 2008
Filed Under Gay News Blog

Despite the high costs and legal complications, many gay men — such as singing star Clay Aiken, a recent single dad who this week confirmed his sexual orientation — are starting families.

Adoption remains the most common way for gay men to become fathers — unless they live in Florida. State law prohibits gay people from adopting, the only outright ban in the nation.

In an exception, a Monroe circuit judge last month ordered the state to allow a gay man to adopt his 12-year-old foster son. The state Attorney General’s Office will not appeal the order, meaning it will not be reviewed by a higher court.

That case, however, does not change state law; lesbians and gay men must go out of state if they want to adopt a child. Their other option: sperm banks and surrogacy programs.

Fertility clinics and surrogacy programs report increased interest from gay men, while couples who already have children are getting married — or considering it — to provide more security for those kids.

With same-sex marriage now legal in California even to nonresidents, and Massachusetts extending its 4-year-old gay-marriage policy to out-of-staters, parenting is suddenly a realistic option for gays and lesbians nationwide, even if their home states won’t recognize the unions.

‘Married with children’ an option for gay men
MiamiHerald.com, FL