It’s the rallying cry for opponents of same-sex marriage: “Every child deserves a mom or a dad.” But a major new study finds that kids raised by same-sex couples actually do a bit better “than the general population on measures of general health and family cohesion.”
The study, conducted in Australia by University of Melbourne researchers “surveyed 315 same-sex parents and 500 children.” The children in the study scored about six percent higher than Australian kids in the general population. The advantages held up “when controlling for a number sociodemographic factors such as parent education and household income.” The study was the largest of its kind in the world.
The lead researcher, Dr. Simon Crouch, noted that in same-sex couples parents have to “take on roles that are suited to their skill sets rather than falling into those gender stereotypes.” According to Crouch, this leads to a “more harmonious family unit and therefore feeding on to better health and well being.”
The findings were in line with “existing international research undertaken with smaller sample sizes.”
A group called Family Voice Australia discounts the study because it does not provide data on what happens once the children reach adulthood, but personally I think they are just desperate to undermine its findings.
I can tell you that in my job I see just about every possible type of family.
What I have noticed about same sex couples is that, as a rule, they are somewhat more attentive to the children, simply because they are more determined to get it right, and because they see the opportunity of being parents as a gift that they will not squander.
That is not to say that I have not seen some truly screwed up same sex families, just like I have in traditional families, but overall I would say that the percentage is smaller.
But any time you are being raised by loving parents, who put your needs ahead of their own, and sacrifice to give you a good life, you are going to have parents that you can be proud to call Mom and Dad, or Mom and Mom, or Dad and Dad, of whatever. After all the names don't matter, only the love.
George Takei posted on Facebook this weekend about a same-sex male penguin couple in Bergen, Norway who were given the chance to raise a rare third egg laid one month after two had been and hatched by the mother. It normally would be crushed, but it hatched and "My Two Dads" are proud papas!
ReplyDeleteSame thing was done at Central Park zoo. There's a book (#1 on the ALA banned books list for many years.) called An Tango Makes Three. Lovely book. I read it every year during Banned Books Week.
DeleteI'm happy for same-sex families that they do better than opposite-sex families, because it can only help them getting all the rights they have unjustly been denied for so long.
ReplyDeleteBesides, doing better than opposite-sex families shouldn't be a surprise. Most of the difficulties that women have to endure in opposite-sex mariage come from the gender stereotypes, and obviously there's a more often than not, frustrated female in each and every of these families.
But Gryphen, could that only be true, that just giving love and putting their needs ahead of mine is enough to raise my children into doing well, I would be so reassured !
You do know how much financial adversity single-handedly raising parents face, but add to that being constantly attacked on everything related to the kids, and being vilified in front of them by the other selfish party during visitation, and how well are the kids involved ever going to do ?
Even if Tripp's custody is fully transfered to his father, which is the best that could happen to him at this time, is Tripp ever going to do as well as if he had been born in an average opposite-sex family, without all this traumatic drama ?
You've taken care of hurt youths : did some of them ever manage to become as happy and well-adjusted as kids from a loving family, or do they just at most manage to get a decent life, without ever ceasing to live in inner pain ?
Why would you bring up a specifc kid? You are slandering people here. Tripp for one is a very healthy and loved boy who's never not been happy. He's adaptible, well liked. Testament to a loving parent he's had who whole life. he's 5 and such a loving, sweet boy. Hes Trig's protector and always has been.
DeleteIf anything, sex gender parents will show the world that parenting ISNT gender. LOVE IS LOVE.
Why are you slandering Tripp's family? This post doesn't concern him. You know nothing about him or his family and have no right to comment.
DeleteStick to YOUR life and don't judge.
Dear Fellow IMers:
DeleteDo you think the slander troll is thick as a plank, willfully stubborn, or simply doesn't understand that one word -- "slander" -- means something completely different from another -- "libel"?
Do we cease trying to educate this troll, or simply give it demerits for each " slander" reference -- along with misspellings, incorrect punctuation, etc.?
Do we simply send he/she/it a pocket Webster's with instructions?
Dear 6:31 AM -
DeleteIgnore.
Ignore.
Ignore.
I think the troll opens several windows, writes replies on each of them, then when all are done, goes from tab to tab to click on "Publish".
DeleteInstead of someone so fast as to takes under 1mn to write a comment, we have someone so slow that it takes them a full 1 mn to click Publish - Tab - Publish. Ver' slow.
Families are families and people are people. You cannot generalize this shit in any way. More attentive? Gryphen, do you actually think about things you write and generalize?
ReplyDeleteGay marriage has been legal in Canada since 2003. there have been several studies which show that the children of these couples (whether adopted, in vitro or surrogacy-achieved) are as or better adjusted as/than children of heterosexual couples. It takes a special commitment to raise children and those of same-sex couple are assured that they were wanted (and loved and nurtured) and that they didn't just happen as accidents.
DeleteIt may take awhile for those children in the U.S. to overcome the bigotry and hatred they must endure by folks who are narrow-minded.
A child is happy because he/she is:
ReplyDeleteloved
given freedom to explore and push boundaries which gives a parent lessons in determining how it's best to handle such things in trial and error. Takes time
is loved
loves their parents and knows theyre human and fallible
knows and is taught what family is and the value behind it
is loved.
Because people here just love to lie and hate on people they don't know, the points above indicate that child and children are more than loved and cherished.
I suggest people here love their own family and stop slandering others.
Well, they can oppose it all they want, but they won't have any statistics to back up their belief that gay marriage is bad. Furthermore, they simply expose themselves as the hateful, bigoted people they really are.
ReplyDeletebwahahahahaha! Does anyone think Whoopi would even allow that? Keep dreaming, honey!
ReplyDeleteHa! the only one that wants her is a low rent cable show. Amazing America will do a season 2 I bet Todd will be in this one and probably Track, no wonder she's been pimping out her family lately.
ReplyDeleteI would think that another big factor would be that same sex couples can't "accidentally" get pregnant. Having a child is definitely planned and well thought out.
ReplyDeleteOMG. But she loves Alaska. She loves the outdoors. She loves her family the mostest. How could she ever live in congested, loud, civilized NYC? That's got to be a joke.
ReplyDeleteBeing on "The View" takes stamina and knowledge. And you have to show up for work, as well. Neither of which sister sarry seems to exhibit.
ReplyDeleteUnited Nations To Expand LGBT Marriage Benefits
ReplyDeleteThe United Nations Secretariat will now provide full benefits to employees in same-sex unions, regardless of whether their home country recognizes marriage equality.
"Human rights are at the core of the mission of the United Nations," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Thursday when announcing the policy. "I am proud to stand for greater equality for all staff, and I call on all members of our UN family to unite in rejecting homophobia as discrimination that can never be tolerated at our workplace."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/07/united-nations-lgbt_n_5563902.html
Like
ReplyDeleteWhew, scanned the comments, time to order more "Troll Repellent"!
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were in grade and high school, there were several kids with same sex parents, and almost all of them were at or above grade level, at ease in social situations, effective communicators, and showed a great deal of empathy for those who were bullied and/or outcasts. To me, the "stereotypes" are based on ignorance. My husband changed diapers, bathed and fed the kids, took them to the playground, etc.