Jessica Bates, a Christian mother from Oregon, has reached a settlement with the state allowing her to continue pursuing foster care adoption despite previously being denied due to her religious beliefs about gender identity. In March 2022, Bates applied to adopt through Oregon’s foster care system but was rejected in September 2022 after expressing her unwillingness to affirm a child's gender transition or support hormone treatments, citing conflicts with her faith. The Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) represented Bates and filed a federal complaint on her behalf; following a court ruling against her case in December 2023, ADF appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Jessica Bates, a Christian mother of five from Oregon, settled with the state after being denied foster care adoption due to her beliefs about gender identity. During training, Bates stated that she was asked to support children's preferred pronouns and affirm their non-binary identities, even if it conflicted with her faith. She expressed concerns over these requirements, claiming they violated her religious principles. The settlement now allows Bates to continue pursuing adoption without needing to compromise her beliefs regarding gender identity. This case highlights ongoing tensions between accommodating religious beliefs and ensuring LGBTQ+ rights in foster care systems.
Written for “Foster Care ControversyOregon Settlement” on 2026-09-17,
grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
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Leaning score withheld for article 14459: no verified evidence · logged 2026-09-17
A widowed Oregon mother of five who hoped to give a home to a child in foster care and says she was shut out of the process after telling state officials her Christian beliefs prevented her from affirming a child’s gender transition has reached a settlement with the state allowing her to continue pursuing adoption.
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her → hop → adoption
Jessica Bates told Fox News Digital in an interview Wednesday that she completed Oregon’s foster care training after deciding to pursue adoption, but raised what she described as conflicts of conscience with requirements concerning gender identity and the care of children who identify as LGBTQ+.
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who → tell → LGBTQ+
"In the training, the state wanted me to be willing to put pride flags around the house or if a child should come into my care that didn't identify as binary or whatnot, then I would need to affirm their identity, use their preferred pronouns, support this behavior even if it conflicted with my faith and what I hold to be true," Bates said.
"
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Bates → want → faith
When I was on the phone call with them a few months later, they basically kind of set up the litmus test that, ‘OK, well, what if we place a child in your care who wants to transition from one sex to the other, and we want — we need you to take this child to hormone injection appointments.
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you → set → appointments
Would you be willing to do that?,’" Bates said they asked.
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they → do → that
"And that was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back, because I absolutely would not be willing to do that."
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I → break → that
Bates began the process to become certified to adopt in March 2022 from Oregon’s foster care system, but in September 2022 she was denied her application by Oregon due to her religious beliefs, according to Alliance Defending Freedom, who has represented Bates.
Bates said she told officials that gender affirmation for a child who believes he or she is a different gender than what they were born with is "child abuse," and society has yet to learn the full effects of gender transition hormones.
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society → begin → hormones
"It was hard being told you can't adopt or help at all when you know that there were literally like a few thousand kids out there in the foster care system," Bates said.
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Bates → tell → system
"And just knowing, nope, you can't help, and you're excluded was really hard."
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you → know → ?
"And, you've probably heard, I am a widow," she added.
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she → hear → ?
"My husband was killed in 2017 in a head-on collision.
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husband → kill → collision
That's kind of a long story in itself, but my five kids and I know what it is to have grief and to lose someone that you love.
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you → know → that
And just the idea that there's these kids out here, at the same time, while I'm seeing my kids kind of go through life without their dad.
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kids → be → dad
And to know there's kids out there that don't have a parent, either want mom or dad that's able to invest in them and love them."
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that → know → them
In March 2023, ADF filed a federal complaint on her behalf, and in December 2023, following a federal district court ruling against Bates, ADF appealed her case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, asking the court to allow her to access Oregon’s adoption system without discrimination while her lawsuit continues.
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lawsuit → file → discrimination
In July 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit ruled that Bates can start the process of adopting siblings from foster care without violating her religious beliefs about human sexuality while her lawsuit against state officials progresses.
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lawsuit → rule → officials
"This settlement will allow me to continue in the process of looking to foster, to adopt," Bates said.
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Bates → allow → process
"I plan to do that even though my family life has changed a lot in the last four years.
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life → plan → years
I became a grandmother.
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I → become → ?
My oldest son's married, and he's actually — they're living with me, just because cost of living and everything is so high right now, but I would like to continue the process and this case allows me to do that."
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me → marry → that
Fox News Digital reached out to the Oregon Department of Human Services for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Digital → reach → response
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