Making the choice to adopt requires a big commitment. You really have to be prepared and know what you're getting into. It's not something that can happen by accident or in the heat of the moment. In New York, you can even get certified as "Qualified Adoptive Parents" by the New York City Surrogate Court. That's what Rosario Gennaro and Alexander Gardner did.When they went online to register with ParentProfiles.com, a website that lists prospective adoptive parents' information, however, they ran into an unforeseen obstacle -- discrimination. You see, Adoption Profiles, LLC, the company that runs the website, limits profiles to "Qualifying Husband and Wife Couples".
The same company chose to stop doing business in California rather than take on the state's antidiscrimination laws after being sued in 2004. Now they may have to give up New York as well -- Lambda Legal, a national, non-profit, civil rights organization, has filed, on behalf of Gennaro and Gardner, a discrimination complaint with the New York attorney general's office.
It's a shame that someone would let their prejudice get in the way of finding a loving home for a child that needs one. "We are committed partners who can provide a loving home for the child," says Gennaro. It's too bad that Adoption Profiles won't let a child into that loving home.







1. Is parentprofiles.com a private business? If so, and they choose to feature only husband/wife couples, what business is it of anyone else to challenge that?
Certainly the birth mother should have the option of choosing what type of family she wants her baby placed in, and this site focuses on husband/wife couples.
Rather than impose their belief system on others, who clearly aren't interested, why not start your own website?
I mean...what if it was only African American couples? ...or lesbian parents? Would that be a problem? This is just a way of breaking down the search for what birth mother's want. This site is clear in what they market to birth mothers - male/female families.
Why should it be a list of ALL couples that want a baby? I think it can be any segment of the population it wants.
Posted at 4:50PM on Jul 11th 2008 by Karen