Yet more research finds that kids do just fine with same-sex parents
Another study has found that children with same-sex parents do just as well as those born to an opposite-sex couple.
Researchers looked into the wellbeing of the kids being raised across the US by same-sex parents.
One of the main recommendations from the findings was to ensure legal protections for children of same-sex parents, due to ongoing stigma and discrimination.
Principal investigator Dr Ellen Perrin said: “Because stigma continues to interfere with the efforts of gay men to become parents and with the lives of gay men and their children, our research underscores the need for social and legal protections for families headed by same-sex parents.”
The study, led by Perrin, looked at responses by 732 gay dads in 47 US states.
The online survey asked the fathers about the wellbeing of their children, including performance in education, self-esteem and friendships.
Perrin is the director of research for the Centre for Children With Special Needs at the Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Centre, in Boston.
Out of the responses, 88 percent of gay dads said their child was not unhappy or depressed, compared to 87 percent in a general survey.
Similar percentages were found in a question about whether children worry a lot.
Out of the respondents, 36 percent of children with gay parents were born when the parent was in an opposite-sex relationship.
38 percent of kids with gay dads were fostered or adopted and 14 percent used surrogates.
Another issue raised by the researchers was the lack of an ability to apply for shared custody for many gay parents.
Around a third of gay dads said they had faced stigma for being gay. The source of the stigma was usually friends, family or those in religious settings.
A third also said their kids had experienced bullying or teasing from friends and peers.
“Our data add to those of other investigators showing that children of same-sex parents do as well in every way as children whose parents are heterosexual,” Perrin said in an American Academy of Pediatrics statement.
The study will be presented on Sunday at the annual meeting of the Paediatric Academic Societies in Baltimore.
The research and its findings are yet to undergo peer review.
