U.S. Urged Not to Support Changes to Allow Adoption by Homosexuals

The federal government should not support changes that allow homosexuals to adopt children, a presidential advisory task force said Friday.

In its initial report to President Reagan, an interagency task force on adoption also said that while “it is preferable to place a child in a family with a similar racial background, trans-racial adoption should be a permissible method of providing a loving permanent home.”

The report by the task force was the first since it was established by Reagan on Aug. 24. White House officials acknowledged at the time that a principal goal of the task force would be to find ways to sell adoption as an alternative for unwanted pregnancies.

State Initiatives Cited

In the interim report sent to Reagan on Friday, the task force of government officials, selected from a variety of social agencies, said it has found several “promising state initiatives to remove barriers to adoption.” They include:

--California’s “Pregnancy Freedom of Choice Act,” which allows an unmarried girl under 21 to make an effective choice between abortion and giving birth.

--New York’s “Putative Fathers’ Registry Law,” which allows a father to claim paternity by notifying the state of his interest in being informed of any adoption proceeding involving his child.

--Minnesota’s law requiring that an adopted child be treated as a biological child for health insurance purposes.

The task force said, among other things, that it “believes that marital status, age or handicap should not preclude individuals from consideration as adoptive parents. However, homosexual adoption should not be supported.”