Kids with Gay Parents Grow Up Just as Happy and Well-Adjusted
The fact is, having straight parents – a mom and a dad – is no guarantee that a child will have a safe, secure home or grow up to be a productive, well-adjusted individual. I’ve been a pediatrician for 16 years, and can tell you first hand that same- and opposite-gender parents react in exactly the same way to stings, scrapes, shots and all the other joys and heartaches of childhood – as do their kids. Being a great (or not so great) parent has nothing to do with someone’s sexual orientation. Conscientious and nurturing adults, whether they are men or women, heterosexual or homosexual, can be excellent parents.
I’ve found that it’s not what families look like – but the love they share – that makes the most difference.
But my personal experience is also backed up by hard evidence. Almost three decades of peer reviewed scientific research has uncovered no difference between the children of same-gender parents and the children of opposite-gender parents in health and development. Indeed, every major organization devoted to child health and welfare in this country agrees that the children of same-gender couples are just as likely to be healthy and well-adjusted as the children of opposite-gender couples. The American Psychological Association found that “There is no scientific evidence that parenting effectiveness is related to parental sexual orientation: Lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children.” Period.
Pediatricians recognize that the children of our nation are being raised in many types of families. Reality is that children are raised by married parents, unmarried parents, single parents, extended family members, foster parents, and the list goes on. Regardless of exactly who makes up the family, however, we realize that it is the strength and security that these families offer that gives children the their best chance for a healthy and successful future. The family is the principal caregiver and the center of strength and support for our children. This is true whether the children are being raised in a family headed by straight, gay or lesbian adults. No same gender couple conceives a child accidentally. Every one of the hundreds of thousands of children in the United States being raised by their same gender parents was wanted by their parents and welcomed into the family.
What is the one essential ingredient that gives children their best chance for a healthy future? The security of a stable family setting. The really essential part of every family is the love they provide.
Sign up for the OV Daily Newsletter
OV Social
There are some attention-grabbing points in time in this article however I dont know if I see all of them center to heart. There's some validity however I will take hold opinion till I look into it further. Good article , thanks and we would like extra! Added to FeedBurner as effectively iPhone Buffalo Smoke Tip Advice Propecia Cremation The Safe Cig resource
I would assume that the "expert" MD is gay?
“I would assume that the "expert" MD is gay?”
How does their orientation alter the truth of their statement?
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that being gay just means being human. The "Yes" argument conists of "Well, isn't it obvious gays are evil?". *Shakes head*
I am glad that I have a male parent to talk to about certain things and a female parent to talk to about other things. I don't think I would be as well adjusted if this were not the case. I am sure that some children of same-sex parents are happier than me, and others are less happy than me, but I don't think I would be as happy if I had same-sex parents.
That's an interesting way of looking at things, but if I may be so rude as to question you, I am simply going to ask "WHY do you think you wouldn't be happy?"
I grew up with two dads and I would definitely consider myself happier than most. Yet a single case a study does not make.
I will, however, say that kids with only one parent or worse yet, NO parents are significantly more UNhappy than MOST kids with two parents...
Just a question and a thought, pay me no heed if you wish.
The assumption here is that we are comparing apples with apples. A 'good' heterosexual environment with a 'good' homosexual environment. But the facts are otherwise. More than one third of hetero marriages end up in divorce, and many that stay together are far from plain sailing.
I would have absolutely no doubt that children from a sound Same Sex home are better off than children from a bad marriage, or single mum home. Better off than an orphanage, better off than street kids.
Disadvantaged as compared to a strong heterosexual home, few though they may be? Probably yes. That's got to get the number one slot.
So I can't vote on this issue, it's not so straight forward as Yes/No.
Interestingly, I have been struggling with this very issue in my fourth book. The first third is available free on the internet at http://www.bernard-preston.com/A-Family-Affair.html for those who might like to sample a dozen or so chapters.
Bernie Preston.
Within my varied circle of friends is a lesbian couple in their early 50s who have been together for 30 years. They live in inner-suburban Sydney, Australia, where pretty much, no-one cares about the gender(s) of a couple. They are happy, stable and affluent thanks to years of hard work and long, steady careers.
They have a son who has just finished high school. One of his parents is his birth mother; the other is related through the sperm of the father.
Their son is a handsome, good-natured, polite, clever and amiable boy with a bright future because in a free, open society like Australia, no church overwhelms the moral judgments of the population, and he is at no disadvantage.
In the US the problem is not the gender of the couple; it is the society around them that disadvantages the children. Unfortunately this kind of issue is always a numbers thing. The law moves slowly behind society - but when does any law on a moral issue precede the need or want of the population? So there has to be a critical mass of people demanding legal recognition: the pioneers. These pioneers have managed very well to raise children despite the lack of societal and legal support in the US.
It has always struck me as strange that a country who is so consumed by the supposed welfare of these children is only now beginning to look at a system of universal health care that many other developed countries (e.g. UK, Sweden, Australia, Canada, France) have had for decades. Certainly there would be more harm done to US children whose families are damaged or compromised by the burden of inferior public health care or unethical insurers than anything affecting children of gay couples. The US moral masses should get their priorities right.
By the way, Australia has just formally identified dozens of ways in which our current laws disadvantage gay people. Right now, these are in the process of being rewritten. It's a wonderful thing for our society. I look forward to the day when everyone is equal at law and our community is comprised of many different types of people, all contributing their diversity to a rich and elevated way of living. In Australia, it will come. In the US... well, I can't see it happening any time soon.
I will assume that you are Australian and just have this compulsive interest in the United States. I would suggest that you stay where you are since it seems ideally suited to you.
I will assume you're an American, otherwise you wouldn't reply with a comment so unnecessary. You wouldn't know this, but for anyone else in the world, being informed about issues simmering along in the US is hardly compulsive.
I won't ever be travelling to the US, because I don't need to - your country makes its way over here, as so much of your media is exported to countries like mine. Unfortunately, so are some of the happy-clappy-type churches and their foreign moralities along with it.
You're right: at the moment, my country is ideally suited to me. Dnd due to people like you, it seems, it is in danger of not being so. I call that interference ... hence my interest in this forum and others like it.
Does the author or anyone else know which peer-reviewed studies in particular are being referenced as proof of his assertion?
If you are refering to studies supporting same-gendered parents, then, yes. Here is a link to a good summary:
http://www.apa.org/pi/parent.html