Legislators in Democratic states have instituted nondiscrimination rules for adoption and foster care agencies that receive government funds. Many Republican states have gone the opposite route, passing religious freedom laws that permit faith-based agencies to decline to place children with same-sex couples – or even with those who do not share their religious views.

“You have kind of a push-pull in opposite directions in the U.S. right now,” says Robin Fretwell Wilson, professor of law and the director of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois.

Wilson, who herself was adopted as a child, went on to say, “The most important thing in my view, and I think in the view of most Americans, is to find these kids homes and permanent families. And to get that done, I think we have to have all hands on deck, meaning that if you look at those who adopt or foster most in the United States, it’s single women, it’s gay and lesbian couples, and it’s religious people.”

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