Gay Parents Raisg Kids: How Will They Fare? | Psychology Today

Contents:

• ITALY BEGS REMOVG GAY MOTHERS OM CHILDREN’S BIRTH CERTIFIT
• HOW TO DEAL WH HAVG GAY PARENTS
• THE CHILDREN OF GAY PARENTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELV
• GAY PARENTS RAISG KIDS: HOW WILL THEY FARE?
• GAY PARENTG: 'S PLITED
• WHY GAY PARENTS MAY BE THE BT PARENTS

ITALY BEGS REMOVG GAY MOTHERS OM CHILDREN’S BIRTH CERTIFIT

For ee real time breakg news alerts sent straight to your box sign up to our breakg news emailsSign up to our ee breakg news emailsItaly has begun removg the nam of gay mothers om their children’s birth certifit, as part of the right-wg ernment’s crackdown on same-sex move after populist prime mister Grgia Meloni’s aln announced March that state agenci should no longer register the children of same-sex upl, a move that sparked protts Milan.

At the same time, 77 percent of Amerins say they are “extremely” or “very” ncerned by book rtrictns schools, acrdg to a March poll om Fox is also the se, said Skidmore College profsor Cathere Goln, who teach a class on 19th-century children’s lerature, that objectns are surgg bee the number of visual-rich picture books portrayg what ’s like to have gay parents or be transgenr has explod.

HOW TO DEAL WH HAVG GAY PARENTS

Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice bee of their sexual orientatn that n turn judg, legislators, profsnals, and the public agast them, sometim rultg negative out, such as loss of physil ctody, rtrictns on visatn, and prohibns agast adoptn (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Appell, 2003; Patterson, Fulcher, & Waright, 2002). Startg wh the pneerg work of Mart and Lyon (1972), first-person and fictnalized scriptns of life lbian mother fai (e.g., Alpert, 1988; Clsen, 1985; Howey & Samuels, 2000; Julln, 1985; Mager, 1975; Perrelt, 1975; Pollock & Vghn, 1987; Rafk, 1990; Wells, 1997) and gay father fai (e.g., Gallucc, Gallucc, & Groff, 2002; Green, 1999; Men, 1995; Savage, 2000) have also bee available.

Recent rearch on lbian and gay adults has drawn on populatn-based sampl (e.g., Cochran, 2001), and rearch on the offsprg of lbian and gay parents has begun to employ the same approach (e.g., Golombok, Perry, Burston, Murray, Mooney-Somers, Stevens, & Goldg, 2003; Waright, Rsell, & Patterson, 2004). The relevance of this cricism has been greatly rced as rearch has expand to explore life a wir array of lbian mother and gay father fai (many of which have never lived through the divorce of a heterosexual uple), and as newer studi beg to clu a wir array of ntrol groups. An expert readg of the Sarantakos article reveals that certa characteristics of s methodology and sample are highly likely to have skewed the rults and renred them an valid ditor of the well-beg of children raised by gay and lbian parents at least three rpects:.

Some nonscientific anizatns have attempted to nvce urts that there is an actual scientific dispute this area by cg rearch performed by Pl Cameron as supportg the existence of fics gay and lbian parents or their children pared to heterosexual parents or their children. Three ncerns have historilly been associated wh judicial cisn makg ctody ligatn and public polici erng foster re and adoptn: the belief that lbians and gay men are mentally ill, that lbians are ls maternal than heterosexual women, and that lbians' and gay men's relatnships wh sexual partners leave ltle time for ongog parent-child teractns (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Falk, 1989, 1994; Patterson et al., 2002; Patterson & Reddg, 1996).

THE CHILDREN OF GAY PARENTS SPEAK FOR THEMSELV

Many years ago, the Amerin Psychiatric Associatn removed "homosexualy" om s list of mental disorrs, statg that "homosexualy per se impli no impairment judgment, stabily, reliabily, or general social or votnal pabili" (Amerin Psychiatric Associatn, 1974). The cisn to remove homosexual orientatn om the list of mental disorrs reflects extensive rearch nducted over three s showg that homosexual orientatn is not a psychologil maladjtment (Gonsrek, 1991; Hart, Roback, Ttler, Wez, Walston, & McKee, 1978; Reiss, 1980). There is no reliable evince that homosexual orientatn per se impairs psychologil functng, although the social and other circumstanc which lbians and gay men live, cludg exposure to wispread prejudice and discrimatn, often e acute distrs (Cochran, 2001; Freedman, 1971; Gonsrek, 1991; Hart et al., 1978; Hooker, 1957; Meyer, 2003; Reiss, 1980).

Beliefs that lbian and gay adults are not f parents likewise have no empiril foundatn (Anrssen, Amlie, & Ytteroy, 2002; Brewaeys & van Hall, 1997; Parks, 1998; Patterson, 2000; Patterson & Chan, 1996; Perr, 2002; Stacey & Biblarz, 2001; Tasker, 1999; Victor & Fish, 1995). A recent study of 256 lbian and gay parent fai found that, ntrast to patterns characterizg the majory of Amerin parents, very few lbian and gay parents reported any e of physil punishment (such as spankg) as a disciplary technique; stead, they were likely to report e of posive techniqu such as reasong (Johnson & O'Connor, 2002). Certaly, rearch has found no reasons to believe lbian mothers or gay fathers to be unf parents (Armto, 2002; Barret & Robson, 1990; Bigner & Bozett, 1990; Bigner & Jabsen, 1989a, 1989b; Bos et al., 2003, 2004; Bozett, 1980, 1989; Patterson, 1997; Patterson & Chan, 1996; Sbordone, 1993; Tasker & Golombok, 1997; Victor & Fish, 1995; Wton, 1991).

GAY PARENTS RAISG KIDS: HOW WILL THEY FARE?

For stance, one such ncern is that children brought up by lbian mothers or gay fathers will show disturbanc genr inty and/or genr role behavr (Falk, 1989, 1994; Hchens & Kirkpatrick, 1985; Kleber, Howell, & Tibbs-Kleber, 1986; Patterson et al., 2002; Patterson & Reddg, 1996). Three aspects of sexual inty are nsired the rearch: genr inty, which ncerns a person's self-intifitn as male or female; genr-role behavr, which ncerns the extent to which a person's activi, occupatns, and the like are regard by the culture as mascule, feme, or both; and sexual orientatn, which refers to a person's choice of sexual partners, who may be homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972; Ste, 1993).

Although some children have scribed enunters wh anti-gay remarks om peers (Gartrell et al., 2005), young adult offsprg of divorced lbian mothers did not rell beg the targets of any more childhood teasg or victimizatn than did the offsprg of divorced heterosexual mothers (Tasker & Golombok, 1995, 1997). Much of the existg rearch on lbian mothers, gay fathers, and their children was iated to addrs ncerns that arose for such fai the ntext of child ctody disput, and was apparently signed at least part to exame the veracy of mon stereotyp that have been voiced legal proceedgs.

It is clear that existg rearch provis no basis for believg that children's bt terts are served by fay nflict or secrecy about a parent's lbian or gay inty, or by requirements that a lbian or gay parent mata a hoehold separate om that of a same-sex partner.

GAY PARENTG: 'S PLITED

Although studi of adolcent and young adult offsprg of lbian and gay parents are available (e.g., Gershon et al., 1999; Tasker & Golombok, 1997; Waright et al., 2004), relatively few studi have foced on the offsprg of lbian or gay parents durg adolcence or adulthood. One hundred one gay and bisexual parents (aged 25-75 yrs.) loted the Uned Kgdom and Eire provid rmatn about their rout to parentg, partners' volvement wh parentg, succs meetg mon parentg challeng, and their elst sons' and dghters' rpons to growg up wh a gay parent. Although those om lbian fai were more likely to explore same-sex relatnships, particularly if their childhood fay environment was characterized by an openns and acceptance of lbian and gay relatnships, the large majory of children who grew up lbian fai intified as heterosexual.

Subjects evaluated vigt pictg eher a gay male uple or heterosexual uple and their adopted son along the dimensns of parentg abily, gree to which the child's problems were attributable to the parental relatnship, distrs of the child (cludg genr and sexual inty nfn), and the extent to which ctody reassignment was perceived to be beneficial.

WHY GAY PARENTS MAY BE THE BT PARENTS

A sgle qutn on relatnship satisfactn revealed no signifint difference between groups reported satisfactn, while the 32-em DAS revealed the gay parentg upl to be signifintly more satisfied wh their relatnships than the heterosexual upl, pecially the area of dyadic hn and affective exprsn.