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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Sociol.
Sec. Gender, Sex and Sexualities
Volume 9 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fsoc.2024.1270527

Stronger Color Evasive Racial Ideologies Predict Lower Likelihood of Open Adoption Placement with Same-Sex Couples

Provisionally accepted
Brian J. Reece Brian J. Reece 1*Diana L. Jenkins Diana L. Jenkins 2Austin Folger Austin Folger 3Leslie D. Leve Leslie D. Leve 2*Daniel S. Shaw Daniel S. Shaw 4Jenae M. Neiderheiser Jenae M. Neiderheiser 5David Reiss David Reiss 6Jody M. Ganiban Jody M. Ganiban 7
  • 1 Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
  • 2 Prevention Science Institute, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
  • 3 Department of Counseling Psychology and Human Services, College of Education, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, United States
  • 4 Department of Psychology, Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 5 Department of Psychology, College of the Liberal Arts, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, United States
  • 6 Child Study Center, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, United States
  • 7 Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Columbian College of Arts and Sciences, George Washington University, Washington DC, District of Columbia, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Although the adoption rate among same-sex couples has been increasing, limited research has focused on factors influencing decision making related to placing children with such couples, particularly from the standpoint of birth mothers. Additionally, there is a gap in the literature regarding how biases may influence birth mothers' decision to place their child with a same-sex couple. This study sought to examine the association between birth mothers' racial ideologies and their decision to voluntarily place their children with same-sex couples (n = 29) or mother-father couples (n = 354) during the adoption process. Results indicated that birth mothers with stronger color evasive racial attitudes were significantly less likely to place their children with same-sex couples. The need for additional research about the intersections among various forms of bias in the adoption process and the effect of potential interactions between homophobia and racism are discussed. Suggestions for professionals wishing to minimize homophobic and racist bias are provided.

    Keywords: Racism, Homophobia, Social Justice, Adoption, parent

    Received: 31 Jul 2023; Accepted: 15 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Reece, Jenkins, Folger, Leve, Shaw, Neiderheiser, Reiss and Ganiban. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Brian J. Reece, Arizona State University, Tempe, United States
    Leslie D. Leve, Prevention Science Institute, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, 97403-6217, Oregon, United States

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