Gay Marriage

The Kids of Same-Sex Parents Do Better Than Kids in Conventional Families

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same sex parents
Philip McAdoo

Or at least they do in Austraiia, according to their parents in a new study published in the journal BMC Public Health. The study asked parents how their children are doing with respect to various psychosocial measurements. From the abstract: 

A cross-sectional survey, the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families, was distributed in 2012 to a convenience sample of 390 parents from Australia who self-identified as same-sex attracted and had children aged 0-17 years. Parent-reported, multidimensional measures of child health and wellbeing and the relationship to perceived stigma were measured.

315 parents completed the survey (completion rate?=?81%) representing 500 children. 80% of children had a female index parent while 18% had a male index parent. Children in same-sex parent families had higher scores on measures of general behavior, general health and family cohesion compared to population normative data…There were no significant differences between the two groups for all other scale scores…

Australian children with same-sex attracted parents score higher than population samples on a number of parent-reported measures of child health. Perceived stigma is negatively associated with mental health. Through improved awareness of stigma these findings play an important role in health policy, improving child health outcomes.

Regarding the problem of stigma associated with same-sex parents, the Washington Post notes:

According to the study, about two-thirds of children with same-sex parents experienced some form of stigma because of their parents' sexual orientation. Despite these kids' higher marks in physical health and social well-being, the stigma associated with their family structure was linked to lower scores on a number of scales. Crouch said stigmas ranged from subtle issues such as sending letters home from school addressed to a "Mr." and "Mrs." to more harmful problems such as bullying at school. The greater the stigma a same-sex family faces, the greater the impact on a child's social and emotional well-being, [lead researcher Simon] Crouch said.

However, according to a report published by the American Academy of Pediatrics last year that analyzed three decades of data, children raised by gay and lesbian parents showed resilience "with regard to social, psychological and sexual health despite economic and legal disparities and social stigma."

"Many studies have demonstrated that children's well-being is affected much more by their relationships with their parents, their parents' sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support for the family than by the gender or the sexual orientation of their parents," said Siegel, co-author of the American Academy of Pediatrics report.

This new study basically bolsters the findings that I reported in my Wall Street Journal op-ed, "The Science of Same-Sex Marriage," last year.