I began filling out paperwork to adopt a child from foster care today. One page was a questionnaire that listed illnesses and disorders where perspective parents can indicate whether or not they would accept a child who had these issues. Listed with schizophrenia, Truancy, Down Syndrome, Blindness and clef lip is "child questioning sexual orientation" and "transgender issues." Binary Gender roles are accepted as absolutes in our society. Children who do not fit into the binary are considered to have something "wrong" with them. I find it concerning that parents opt out of adopting a child with gender issues when the reality is that gender issue are not always known prior to a child's adoption, what happens when a parent adopts a child and later discovers that they have gender issues?
I located this article about a lesbian couple who adopted a transgender child and the trials they faced in addressing the childs desires.
http://www.womanist-musings.com/2011/10/controversy-compounded-lesbian-couple.html
As they noted, the issues would be the same if a heterosexual couple had adopted the child. Our society does not allow for children who do not classify themselves as boy/masculine or girl/feminine.
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