MARE and the Home to hold adoption and foster forum for LGBT parents

The Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange (MARE) and the Home for Little Wanderers will hold the second in a series of two informational meetings March 11 for LGBT people interested in either adoption or becoming foster parents. The meeting, which will be held at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, is aimed at "anyone who's in the community who's considering parenting and wants to know about adoption and foster parenting as an option," said MARE spokeswoman Janice Halpern. "There are many ways to build a family."

Halpern said attendees will have a chance to ask questions about both the adoption and foster care process.

"We do have social workers who will be there who can talk about the process from the procedural standpoint and we also have a number of LGBTQ families who have adopted, who have served as foster parents, so they can answer questions from the been-there, experienced-that perspective," said Halpern.

She said agencies in Massachusetts have generally been supportive of LGBT people hoping to adopt or become foster parents.

"The state is very receptive to LGBTQ families, and there are certainly circumstances in which a lesbian couple may be a better placement for a particular child than a heterosexual couple and vice versa. The real interest is what's in the best interest of that particular child, who can meet that child's need and provide the right support for that child," said Halpern.

The two organizations partnered to hold an earlier forum on the same topic last January at the Home for Little Wanderers in Roslindale.

The adoption and foster parenting forum for LGBT parents will be held March 11 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Gutman Library of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, 6 Appian Way, Cambridge. To R.S.V.P. for the event contact Angela Times at [email protected] or 617.469.8557.