[sak9645]

Yes, men -- single and married -- can and do molest girls AND boys. But there are also plenty of women -- single and married -- who are truly toxic parents, perpetrating sexual, physical, and emotional abuse on both genders of kid.

The point that needs to be made is that each prospective parent needs to be judged as an individual. I think that ALL prospective parents need to be checked out VERY carefully, for the sake of the children who may be placed with them. I am all in favor of very thorough homestudies. But I don't think that just because a person is single and/or male makes him/her innately more risky.

Personally, I also feel that the same can be said of gay and lesbian people. Yes, there are pedophiles who are gay. But there are also pedophiles who are not gay. And there are gay and lesbian people who make good parents, just as there are heterosexual people who make good parents.

The American Academy of Pediatrics and the National Association of Social Workers have both issued statements indicating that a gay or lesbian person who meets the same standards as a straight person can do a fine job as an adoptive parent.

Agencies need to be guided by the rules of foreign countries and of their states, as well as by their founding principles. There are plenty of agencies that won't place children with single men, gay or straight. But there are agencies that would gladly place with single men if foreign countries were more open to it, and with gay and lesbian clients if it was allowed in certain states (Florida does not allow it) and foreign countries.

Sharon