The study of same sex parenting grew largely out of moral and legal concerns about the potential for negative effects that growing up in a gay or lesbian headed family would have on the development of children. On the whole, the existing body of empirical evidence supports the notion that children of gay and lesbian parents are just as well adjusted as children of heterosexual parents (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 1999; Anderssen, Amlie, & Ytterøy, 2002; McCann & Delamonte, 2005; Meezan & Rauch, 2005; Patterson, 2006). The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry’s (1999) Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Parents Policy Statement states:
There is no evidence to suggest or support that parents with a gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation are per se different from or deficient in parenting skills, child-centered concerns, and parent-child attachments, when compared to parents with a heterosexual orientation.
In their analysis of the question, “How might same-sex marriage affect the wellbeing of America’s children?” (p. 98), Meezan and Rauch (2005) point out that research on same-sex parenting is a relatively new, rapidly expanding, and methodologically challenging area of study. When evaluating the body of research on same-sex parenting, Meezan and Rauch (2005) noted several challenges to the research process and noted that these challenges can be fairly common in psychological research, particularly in research with underrepresented and/ or stigmatized populations. Points of consideration for consumers of this research include: motivation and/or bias of the researcher(s); difficulty finding representative samples; relatively small sample sizes; existence and/ or legitimacy of comparison groups in the study (i.e., is it appropriate to utilize a heteronormative sample as a comparison group?); subject group heterogeneity; and measurement and statistical issues.
An important, and potentially confounding variable in the study of same-sex parenting, is that gay and lesbian parents and their children come together as family in a variety of different constellations. These children may be the biological offspring of one of the parents, conceived via insemination with an anonymous or known sperm donor or surrogate birth mother. They may also be biologically related to one parent, the product of a previous heterosexual marital or sexual relationship. The child may be biologically unrelated to both parents, joining the family through formal adoption or the foster care system. Additional variables such as a parent’s previous separation or divorce from the child’s biological parent and legal statutes around second parent adoption which vary from state to state makes the study of same-sex parenting a challenge for researchers (Meezan and Rauch, 2005).
Despite the methodological shortcomings found in many of the studies they reviewed dating back to the 1970’s, Meezan and Rauch (2005) found that data produced with these studies was consistent with the studies which they considered to be strong methodologically. In summarizing these findings, they quote the American Psychological Association’s 2004 “Resolution on Sexual Orientation, Parents, and Children,” which states:
There is no scientific basis for concluding that lesbian mothers or gay fathers are unfit parents on the basis of their sexual orientation…. .On the contrary, results of research suggest that lesbian and gay parents are as likely as heterosexual parents to provide supportive and healthy environments for their children…. Overall, results of research suggest that the development, adjustment and wellbeing of children with lesbian and gay parents do not differ markedly from that of children with heterosexual parents.
Further, Anderssen, Amlie, and Ytterøy (2002) reviewed 23 outcome studies published in the peer reviewed literature between 1978 and 2000 on children with gay and lesbian parents. They found that in the 12 studies specifically evaluating the emotional functioning of children raised by lesbian mothers, there were no significant differences in emotional functioning between these children and children raised within heterosexual family constellations. The six remaining outcomes that were evaluated within the 23 studies indicated that there were no systematic differences between children raised with gay or lesbian parents and other children. The six areas of exploration included: sexual preference, stigmatization, gender role behavior, behavioral adjustment, gender identity, and cognitive functioning. Upon review of several studies conducted by herself and other researchers which found no significant differences in the development of children and adolescents raised by heterosexual parents and homosexual parents, Patterson (2006) proposes that the quality and strength of the relationship between the parent and the child is more significant to the child’s development than the sexual orientation of the parent.
McCann and Delamonte (2005) explicitly take the stance that beyond the idea of being competent parents, gay and lesbian parents have much to offer children. As mentioned frequently in this review, gay and lesbian individuals and couples embark upon many routes to parenthood. Their motivations for becoming parents, in many respects, are no different than those of heterosexual parents such as the desire to raise and nurture them. A common notion utilized in undermining the competency of gay and lesbian parents is the belief that same-sex partners will not provide their children with adequate opposite gender role models. McCann and Delamonte (2005) propose that this is yet another manifestation of prevalent hetero-normative discourse and that this critique seems less common among single heterosexual parents.
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