The various forms of child adoption today are almost all uniformly very costly. Back in the twenties, when adoption agencies began to organize in their modern form, the word adoption was often whispered. A woman who could not give birth was compared to a weed, to be tossed off. Little by little, as Art may have been suggesting, the paradigm has shifted. Now, more than ever before in human history, the adoption option is wide open.
Single parents can adopt children through some adoption agencies.
Other agencies specialize in adoptions from other countries, especially nations where war or vicious poverty have left many children without home or parent. And, despite laws against it in some states, I know plenty of gay men or lesbians who have adopted children. My godson Ben is such a child. And the two women were in that delivery room to welcome their child into the world. Both mothers have legally adopted Ben.