Are kids more likely to be gay with gay parents

Percentages of children of gay and lesbian parents who adopted non-heterosexual identities ranged between 16% and 57%, with odds ratios of todepending on the mix of child and parent genders. Daughters of lesbian mothers were most likely (33% to 57%; odds ratios from to ) to report non-heterosexual identities. Are they more likely to be gay?” (p. 14). Goldberg, Downing, and Richardson () stated that “A central controversy concerning children of gay and lesbian parents is whether being raised by gay and lesbian parents increases children’s likelihood of later identifying as gay or lesbian” (p.

; see also p. ). (CBS News) A new study that finds children of a gay or lesbian parent may be more likely to have social and emotional problems has sparked controversy on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate.

A ground-breaking study from the University of Texas at Austin (Regnerus ) found that young-adult children (ages 18–39) of parents who had same-sex relationships before the subjects had reached the age of 18 were more likely to suffer from a broad range of emotional and social problems. Deanna Linville, PhD and Maya O’Neil, MS, conducted research finding that children with same-sex parents reported feeling more connected at school and that these children are more likely to openly talk about emotionally difficult topics.

However, we now know that a significant proportion of those minors were siblings, grandchildren, or unrelated. It also appears that the percentage of same-sex couples who are parents is slightly lower now than in prior estimates, using similar ways of defining parenthood. Outcomes included whether a child had grown up to need public assistance like welfare, were more likely to have anxiety or depression, were more likely to be abused, or were more apt engage in unhealthier habits such as having more sexual partners, smoking or using drugs.

Hodges 6th Cir. By Julie Moreau. Heritage Offers Activate Your Membership By activating your membership you'll become part of a committed group of fellow patriots who stand for America's Founding principles. Family Formation and Stressors. If, as the latest and most rigorous studies find, children living with same-sex married couples are at significantly higher risk for abuse or other negative outcomes, it is essential that political or judicial action take into account their best interests as well as those of their adult caregivers.

Search for:. Nanette Gartrell, M. Heritage Foundation Back to Top. Marriage and Family. With children of dads in a same-sex relationship, there are kids more likely to be gay with gay parents 19 outcomes they performed worse on, Regnerus told HealthPop, so they didn't have as many negative outcomes as kids born to a mom without the mother, but more than those who grew up in a home with married heterosexual parents, he said. Early studies of parents in a same-sex relationship were lacking in at least one of these three design criteria, and most such studies were lacking in all of them.

CBS News A new study that finds children of a gay or lesbian parent may be more likely to have social and emotional problems has sparked controversy on both sides of the same-sex marriage debate. The majority of these couples are married. More from CBS News.

Gay children of gay parents

Data Interactive. Yet, most research on parenting benefits and challenges, as well as demographic characteristics of parents, remains focused on cisgender heterosexual individuals. Regnerus defended his study to HealthPop, saying he set out to do a population-based study, which is considered the "gold standard" in his field. International Economies. Several experts and advocacy groups have taken issue with the study's methodology, saying a comparison of children of a lesbian mother -- who herself may have divorced the child's biological father, or may not even identify as a lesbian since the survey only asked if a parent had ever been in a same-sex couple during their childhood -- is an unfair, flawed comparison.

Regnerus' analysis identified now-adult children who said they were raised by a lesbian mother, along with 73 who said their father was in a same-sex relationship. In a study published last year in the New England Journal of Medicine, Gartrell and her co-authors showed that from a mental health perspective, adult children with lesbian parents fared just as well as their peers with opposite-sex parents.

Related Publications. The study, from Mark Regnerus, an associate professor of sociology at The University of Texas at Austin, surveyed more than 15, Americans between the ages of 18 and 39, asking them questions about their upbringings. Focusing on the larger sample, the study found respondents whose mother had a same-sex relationship fared worse on 24 of the 40 tested outcomes, compared with children of an intact heterosexual couple.

In terms of being a parent at some point in their lifetime e. States should remain free to formulate marriage, divorce, adoption, and related policy as they seek to determine what best serves the needs of children in less than ideal circumstances without another state or the Supreme Court making these policy decisions for them.