Editing Adoption (section)

===Adoption by same-sex couples===
{{main|Same-sex adoption}}
[[File:World same-sex adoption laws.svg|right|thumb|300px|Legal status of adoption by same-sex couples around the world:
{{legend|#800080|Joint adoption allowed}}
{{legend|#ba75ff|[[Second-parent adoption]] allowed}}
{{legend|#CCCCCC|No laws allowing adoption by same-sex couples and no same-sex marriage}}
{{legend|#E4D69D|Same-sex marriage but adoption by married same-sex couples not allowed}}
]]
Joint adoption by same-sex couples is legal in 34 countries as of March 2022, and additionally in various sub-national territories. Adoption may also be in the form of stepchild adoption (6 additional countries), wherein one partner in a same-sex couple adopts the child of the other. Most countries that have same-sex marriage allow joint adoption by those couples, the exceptions being Ecuador (no adoption by same-sex couples), Taiwan (stepchild adoption only) and Mexico (in one third of states with same-sex marriage). A few countries with civil unions or lesser marriage rights nonetheless allow step- or joint adoption. In 2019, the American Community Survey (ACS) enhanced its approach to measuring same-sex couple households, explicitly distinguishing between same-sex and opposite-sex spouses or partners.

Same-sex parents, according to the ACS in 2022, were predominantly female. Notably, 26.8% of female same-sex couple households had children under 18, in contrast to 8.2% of male same-sex couple households. In homes with children, female same-sex couples were almost 12% more likely to have biological children compared with male same-sex couples; however, male same-sex couples were 18.5% more likely to adopt and were less likely to have stepchildren.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hemez |first1=Paul |title=Spouses in Opposite-Sex and Same-Sex Married Couples and Their Households: 2022 |url=https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/acsbr-020.pdf |website=data.census.gov. |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=4 March 2025}}</ref>