European Attitudes On Adoption by Same-Sex Couples

Same-sex parenting issues, including adoption by same-sex couples, are inseparable from the social definitions of family and kinship relations, reflected also in social and family policy measures that can have serious practical implications for the lives of individuals, couples and the children raised by them. In many places one of the main reasons for the fierce opposition expressed against same-sex parenting rights is that allowing, for example, adoption by same-sex couples would also mean the acceptance of a broader family definition, embracing new(er) family types.

The empirical base of our study is the fourth round of the European Value Survey (EVS) dataset conducted in 2008, with a focus the variable measuring the agreement level with the statement that Homosexual couples should be able to adopt children. We want to highlight individual and country-level factors that can determine the level of social acceptance of “homosexual adoption”, and to direct attention to several previously under-researched aspects of social attitudes on same-sex parenting rights.

Besides testing the effects of basic socio-demographic factors, we will focus on the following hypotheses in connection to gender equality, sexual morality, and family-life related values. Our assumptions are that (1) in countries where there is a higher level of gender equality, people are more likely to accept adoption by same-sex couples; (2) those people whose views reflect more traditional sexual morality are more likely to reject adoption by same-sex couples; (3) those who express less traditional family-life related attitudes are more likely to support adoption by same-sex couples.