Should same-sex couples be able to adopt children? CON.

In the streets of Paris this week, an infuriated crowd rocked the streets leading up to the Eiffel Tower to protest a controversial French bill that would legalize gay marriage.

But according to USA Today, the main reason that the spark was ignited was due to the fact that the bill would allow homosexual couples to adopt and conceive children.

A crowd of almost 340,000 gathered in Paris and walked approximately three miles to the monument while chanting Daddy, Mommy, carrying flags, signs and even their own young children in order to really make a statement.They believed that every child should grow up with a mother and a father.

And I couldnt agree more.

While disapproving of the protest itself, I do see a huge parallel between my beliefs and those of the protestors. While I have nothing against gay marriage, the rest of the bill, which allows adoption, consists of a terrible idea.

Psychologically speaking, imagine the trauma that a child would have to go through to explain his or her family to others for the rest of the childs life. It just sounds odd saying that one has two mommies or two daddies.

According to a recent study from a sociology professor at the University of Texas-Austin, children of single-sex parents households may be more likely to have social and emotional problems.

Though it is controversial, and most experts agree that more research is needed in this area, the problem is the lack of a sound population of families with two same-sex parents.

The worst part is the effect it will have on the children. Naturally, a child of homosexual parents is going to want to find their real, biological parents. They will also face social stigma at school, where almost everyone else will be living with heterosexual parents, and have even more confusion in finding their identity.

According to a study done at the University of California in 2008, lesbian mothers tend to have a feminizing effect on their sons and a masculinizing effect on their daughters.

Not having a clear idea of how to distinguish between the socially created norms of mother and father can leave a child wondering about everything from where they come from to eventually questioning their own sexual identity.

Most same-sex couples with adopted children are lesbians, but gay men make up a growing share, accounting for nearly one-third of such couples in 2010, up from one-fifth in 2000.

If both parents were females it can be said it would be easier for the child, because hopefully he or she at least has one biological parent, but homosexual couples that are male would have additional barriers to conceiving a child, and would have to use the services of a surrogate mother or something similar, which would add additional obstacles for the child.

The bill will also, in respect to homosexual couples, any paperwork relating to the government will now include obscure terms such as Parent 1, Parent 2 and so on.

I agree with the protestors that lamented it will bring an end to the terms of mother and father.

After a protest of this magnitude, the French president would do well to reconsider this bill and its consequences.

Akshita Sathe is a freshman majoring in psychology and behavioral health