The Student Room Group

Kids of lesbians have fewer behavioral problems, study suggests

A nearly 25-year study concluded that children raised in lesbian households were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers. The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, followed 78 lesbian couples who conceived through sperm donations and assessed their children's well-being through a series of questionnaires and interviews.

Gay parenting remains a controversial issue, with debates about topics including the children's psychological adjustment, their parents' sexual orientation and adoption restrictions.

She recruited subjects through announcements in bookstores, lesbian events and newspapers throughout metro Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California, and Washington. The mothers were interviewed during pregnancy or the insemination process, and additionally when the children were 2, 5, 10 and 17 years old. Those children are now 18 to 23 years old. They were interviewed four times as they matured and also completed an online questionnaire at age 17, focusing on their psychological adjustment, peer and family relationships and academic progress. To assess their well-being, Gartrell used the Child Behavior Checklist, a commonly used standard to measure children's behavioral and social problems, such as anxiety, depression, aggressive behavior and social competence. The answers were coded into a computer and then analyzed. This data was compared with data from children of nonlesbian families.

The results surprised Gartrell. "I would have anticipated the kids would be doing as well as the normative sample," she said. "I didn't expect better." Children from lesbian families rated higher in social, academic and total competence. They also showed lower rates in social, rule-breaking, aggressive problem behavior.

The involvement of mothers may be a contributing factor, in addition to the fact that the pregnancies were planned, Gartrell said.
Tell iReport: Growing up with gay parents. The children "didn't arrive by accident," she said. "The mothers were older... they were waiting for an opportunity to have children and age brings maturity and better parenting." This also could have occurred because "growing up in households with less power assertion and more parental involvement has been shown to be associated with healthier psychological adjustment," Gartrell wrote in the study.

Some of the teenagers reported being stigmatized by peers because of their parents' sexuality. Researchers compared the figures in terms of the psychological adjustment between children who had experienced stigma versus those who did not. "We found no differences," Gartrell said. "That leads us to asking why and how are young people managing discrimination? That will be the topic of future papers. We'll look into what the ingredients are to allow them to cope despite adversity."

Wendy Wright, president of the Concerned Women for America, a group that supports biblical values, questioned the legitimacy of the findings from a study funded by gay advocacy groups. "In essence, this study claims to purport that children do better when raised by lesbians," she said. Studies have shown that children thrive having both a mother and a father, Wright said. "You have to be a little suspicious of any study that says children being raised by same-sex couples do better or have superior outcomes to children raised with a mother and father," she said. "It just defies common sense and reality."


http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/07/lesbian.children.adjustment/index.html

What are your opinions on this. Should barriers to lesbian adoption and and parenting be lowered? Should lesbian couples be encouraged to have children and be provided with tax breaks? Or do you believe that this study is flawed and because it defies 'common sense' it is wrong.
Of course lesbian couples should have children, I'd think that regardless of seeing this study :smile:.
Reply 2
I think that is great :smile: maybe there will finally be more equality for lesbian couples after a study like this. It is horrible that kids get bullied for having same sex parents but I guess it is the natural reaction of a kid who is used to seeing a 'mummy' and a 'daddy' figure.
Maybe the barriers should be lowered :smile: they should try it.
Reply 3
That's interesting, there is a general increase (and it's all the nature vs nuture arguement) but I assume the father's were anonymous?

I definitely think lesbian couples should be allowed the right, I don't see how their sexuality changes how likely they are to be a danger to children (as opposed to heterosexual parents).

The more these things happen, the less stigma eventually will be attached to it, but it just takes such a long time.
Aren't gay people afforded the same rights as straight people in the UK when it comes to having/adopting children anyway?
Reply 5
I would love to see the homosexual counterpart of this research.Granted the children will be most probably adopted but at young age it shouldn't be such a big factor.
I guess they would be as good in my oppinion.