Two Day Magazine

According to a 17 year-old study conducted at the University of California that studied families headed by lesbian parents, the answer is yes. This study showed that these children were more psychologically sound, have less behavioral issues, were less aggressive and less prone to breaking rules than children raised by heterosexual parents.

This study followed 78 children born to lesbian parents from birth until they were 17 years old. So, how did they conduct this study? The teens were rated with the Child Behavior Checklist, a standardized assessment, and also filled out a psychological questionnaire on the internet. The mothers were also asked to rate their kids on their school marks, behavior and aggression.

This study supports previous studies that have shown children brought up in gay or lesbian homes to be just as happy or happier than those raised by straight parents.

This is a great step forward in securing equal rights for all. Because this study demonstrated that children born into these homes turned out well-adjusted and happy, it lessens the grip of the socially conservative on these couples. They can no longer use the tired excuse of children being harmed by growing up in a home with two moms or two dads. It just doesn’t hold water, anymore.

The leader of the California study, Nanette Gartrell stated to WebMD Health News, “contrary to assertions from people opposed to same-sex parenting, we found that the17 year-olds scored higher in psychological adjustment in areas of competency and lower in problem behaviors than the normative age-matched sample of kids raised in traditional families with a mum a dad. These are not accidental children. The mums tended to be older and attended parenting classes. They were very involved in the process of education [for their children].”

It’s very interesting how she worded the phrase “these are not accidental children.” This is key. Because of all the misinformation, lack of age-appropriate sex education and the recent glorification by our media pertaining to teen pregnancy, there are so many children being brought into homes where they are not wanted, where they cannot be fully supported and loved, where one or both parents do not play an integral role in their lives. These children grow up not knowing love. In these instances, however, these children were wanted. They were brought into stable homes with parents who couldn’t wait to become a family.

Last spring, a study of 1384 couples (155 of those couples were in homosexual relationships) found that as parents, their sexuality made “no significant difference” on the levels of emotional issues and problems that their children could face.

“They anticipated their kids would experience stigmatisation.” Gartrell went on to say.

The study California study did, however,  find that kids who experienced homophobia were at a higher risk for anxiety and depression. Which makes sense. Clearly if you are being bullied at school for being gay or having homosexual parents raise you, you are going to be more prone to feeling sad, scared and depressed.

This article gave me great hope for our future, however. Now that we have seen an entire generation who were raised by gay or lesbian parents grow up into functioning, well-adjusted young adults, we can start to really think more rationally about what role gender has to do with raising a family. Does it really matter what constitutes a family? Isn’t a family a group of people who care about each other?

“There is not a single study that has shown there are any problems in terms of psychological adjustment of the child. The things we know that make for good parenting are love, resources and being very involved in your child’s life.” Gartrell stated.

Couldn’t have said it better, myself!

PS: The video isn't about this article, but it is an interesting topic and related to the blog. Enjoy!