Posted on 10/13/2005 3:24:27 PM PDT by Constitutionalist Conservative
Oct.12, 2005 (Washington) -- Children growing up in same-sex parental households do not necessarily have differences in self-esteem, gender identity, or emotional problems from children growing up in heterosexual parent homes.
"There are a lot of children with at least one gay or lesbian parent," says Ellen C. Perrin, MD, professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. She revealed the findings at the American Academy of Pediatrics Conference and Exhibition.
Between 1 million and 6 million children in the U.S. are being reared by committed lesbian or gay couples, she says. Children being raised by same-sex parents were either born to a heterosexual couple, adopted, or conceived through artificial insemination.
"The vast consensus of all the studies shows that children of same-sex parents do as well as children whose parents are heterosexual in every way," she tells WebMD. "In some ways children of same-sex parents actually may have advantages over other family structures."
Study Results
Researchers looked at information gleaned from 15 studies on more than 500 children, evaluating possible stigma, teasing and social isolation, adjustment and self-esteem, opposite gender role models, sexual orientation, and strengths.
Studies from 1981 to 1994, including 260 children reared by either heterosexual mothers or same-sex mothers after divorce, found no differences in intelligence, type or prevalence of psychiatric disorders, self-esteem, well-being, peer relationships, couple relationships, or parental stress.
"Some studies showed that single heterosexual parents' children have more difficulties than children who have parents of the same sex," Perrin says. "They did better in discipline, self-esteem, and had less psychosocial difficulties at home and at school."
Another study of 37 children of 27 divorced lesbian mothers and a similar number of children of heterosexual mothers found no differences in behavior, adjustment, gender identity, and peer relationships.
Equitable Division of Chores
Two other large studies involving more than 100 couples found that same-sex parents also had contact with extended family, had social support, and had a more equitable division of labor in the home.
"Lesbian couples share household responsibilities and chores more equitably," Perrin says. "And, the children of lesbian couples are less aggressive, more nurturing to peers, more tolerant of diversity, and more inclined to play with both boy's and girl's toys.
Children seem to adjust better when there is a more equal division of labor in the home and the parental relationship with the children had a higher rating, she says.
The combined data presented by Perrin showed that children whose parents are lesbian have no more problems than the rest of the children and actually may be more tolerant of differences, she says. There was suggestive evidence that there were more stresses due to the gender of same-sex parents, but the children also reported greater well-being, more nurturing, and a greater tolerance for differences.
What is striking is that there are very consistent findings in these studies," Perrin says.
Ryan Malone, who works in public relations in Washington, D.C., says after his parents were divorced he was reared by two "lesbian moms," while still staying in contact with his father.
"We lived in a small town," he says. "While I was open about my family, I didn't broadcast it."
At times he felt isolated because he didn't know any other families at the time headed by a same-sex couple, Malone says. "My parents overparented because they felt like the whole world was watching."
Emotional Topic
While further study should be done, this is important for pediatricians to know so they can learn more about variations in families and give appropriate advice in optimizing the child's development, Perrin says.
Carol Berkowitz, MD, former president of AAP, says this analysis is important in that it combines evidence-based studies.
"This subject evokes a lot of emotions," she says. "Some of the studies on this subject in the past have been weighted and biased, based on nothing more than the researcher's views."
Evidence-based studies are important in helping pediatricians in their practices and creating policy for the future, she says.
SOURCES: American Academy of Pediatrics Conference and Exhibition, Washington, D.C., Oct. 8-11, 2005. Ellen C. Perrin, MD, professor of pediatrics, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. Carol Berkowitz, MD, former president, American Academy of Pediatrics.
No. But they'll dig Judy Garland 11% more.
If the children of homosexual parents are so "well-adjusted", does that mean we can do away with homosexual indoctrination in elementary schools now?
I'm waiting for the next stunning addition to this junk science.
"Normal Children Born to same sex couples are well adjusted"
I posted a reply before I got to your well written post. I find the reports findings highly unlikely.
Of course actively gay kids fit this mold of "normal and well-adjusted." The only way it would be otherwise is if somebody had a homosexual orientation but declined to act on it.
"Between 1 and 6 million children are being raised in committed lesbian or gay households? I find that difficult to swallow"
You chose your words.....poorly
UNBORN BABIES DON'T FEEL PAIN.
WEED MAKEES YOU SMARTER.
COFFEE IS GOOD, NO BAD, NO GOOD, NO BAD... umm wait.
Yeah I trust what these used car doctors and hypocritic oath taking jack@$$3$ have to say.
I wonder how old the kids in the study were. Pre-adolescents will probably have less trouble with having two same gender parents than teens will. I suspect that teenage boys with two moms or teenage girls with two dads are more likely to have problems.
There are 80 colleges and universities within a 20 miles radius of Boston..................and I wouldn't give you 10 cents for the opinions of 99% of em : )
;)
My husband found out as a teen that his father was gay. (His mother had always told him that, but he thought she was being bitter from the divorce.) He went through many many years of having to prove his masculinity to himself and slept with MANY women. He had settled down into near monkhood by the time we started dating, though. I don't believe that having a gay parent doesn't have an effect on kids. I call BS on that.
Hmm, in whose opinion?
People with an agenda will make up any type of facts and figures to support it. When asked for proof, it's never given. We've seen this before. Recently, in fact.
BARF!
LOL. Mea culpa. I think it hit me just as I posted but I was running out the door so I didn't clarify it.
This article has BS written all over it and is not the way things happen. The "few" lesbo/gay couples with kids we know have a very difficult time keeping their kids on the straight and narrow.
One lesbo couple had a kid (by a previous marriage of one) who was constantly in trouble in school, did drugs with them, etc.
They finally broke up, and the real mother met a REAL man. He spent several $K on a boob job and other surgeries to make her look like a model. The kid is back to normal as any 20 yr old can be.
The other "alternative lifestyle couples" we know still have a hugh and series problems with their kids.
I tutored a twelve year old girl who had two mommies.
She hung her head in shame when they came to pick her up.
She rushed out of the van to get into the house when they dropped her off.
She could hardly look me in the eye for a long time. I made exceptional efforts to be friendly and accepting of her, and for her sake, extremely polite to her mommies.
The child was not healthy, she was humiliated, embarrassed, and ashamed. She felt like an outcast because of her self-centered nut of a mother.
I'm sure she couldn't have cared less how the chores were shared.
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