The acceptance of homosexual parenting has been gaining increasing attention since the past decade. Because current technology and science doesn’t provide a way for a lesbian or gay couple to have biological children on their own, many same-sex couples are resorting to surrogacy, donor insemination, or fostering and adoption. At the moment, there are 26 countries where gay marriage and adoption is legal ("Countries That Allow Gay Marriage Around The World").

On a global scale, 1 in 5 married homosexual couples have children (Fitzgibbons). As the numbers grow larger, people are taking interest on what effects same-sex parents have on their children. The hot topic of whether the sexuality of parents have a positive, negative, or no effect at all is being debated between numerous communities, researchers, and scholars.

Flawed Information

As lots of information is being collected and reorganized, flaws are surfacing in studies and surveys published in the past decade. There has been numerous incidents of when surveys had a small number of people and a limited range of age, economic and parental status (Faust). This lead to bias in the data of many researches. Finding random participants from the small population of children raised by same-sex parents is difficult, time consuming and expensive (Faust). One study that acted on finding completely random participants was the “National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health” (Faust). This study took a sample of 20 children with homosexual parents out of more than 12,000, over a span of 20 years (Faust).

Children of Gay Parents Have More Emotional Issues

Dr. Donald Paul Sullins, a professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America, published a research that re-analyzed and critiqued information found on the “National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health” (Faust). The study found that children raised by lesbian and gay parents appeared to have more emotional issues than children raised by opposite-sex parents (Faust). The surveyed children were more likely to experience anxiety, depression, unhappiness and post-traumatic stress disorders (Faust). Though Dr. Sullins has yet to reveal the cause behind this phenomenon, scientists and psychologists infer that the stigma and discrimination surrounding homosexuality, is what's harming the children (Willis) .

Academic Achievement

Furthermore, the same study done by Dr. Sullins revealed some interesting information. Children with same-sex parents, either married or unmarried, had a higher average grade point average (GPA) than children that have opposite-sex parents, both married and unmarried (Sullins). The students with same-sex parents also showed better school connectedness (Sullins). The average age of the students surveyed was 15 (Sullins). Kids of married same-sex families had an average GPA of 3.37, while kids of married opposite same-sex families had an average GPA of 2.91 (Sullins). More research is to be done on the cause of this.

New Findings

Surprisingly, during the process of my research, I found that “developmentally, it has been studied and shown that the sexual orientation of caregivers has no direct effect on children” (Parker 164). The number of parental figures, sexuality and gender of parents are unimportant factors to a child’s behavioral development and growth (Parker). Instead, the positive parenting and upbringing methods of parents are the main factors to how their child grows. Children raised by gay parents fare just as well as those who were raised by straight parents (Parker). Negative effects such as emotional problems in kids of lesbian and gay parents are mainly caused by discrimination and prejudice in their everyday lives and surroundings such as school and friends (Willis). Discrimination can make kids, especially younger kids, feel distressed, shameful and anxious about the sexuality of their parents. Continued discrimination and bullying in everyday environments can lead to multiple psychological issues as mentioned before (Willis).

Conclusion

As for now, more research is required to find the definite answer to whether same-sex parents have an effect in the development of children. We have to keep in mind that the information we receive through acclaimed studies or researches could be true, or could be easily debunked in the near future. Nevertheless, families of the LGBTQ community and their children shouldn’t be disparaged because of the data being found. “This is not a commentary on whether or not gay and lesbians are capable parents” (Faust). It is definitely not up to us to judge the parental ability of a lesbian mother or gay father. Members of the LGBTQ community are just as capable of excellent parenting, as heterosexual individuals are. Please remember that attitude, method and hard-work is what qualifies a person as a good parent, not their sexuality or gender.

Works Cited

"Countries That Allow Gay Marriage Around The World". Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 2018. Accessed 30 Sept 2018.

THE EFFECTS OF LESBIAN AND GAY PARENTING ON CHILDREN’S DEVELOPMENT. 2018, p. 15. Accessed 1 Oct 2018.

Fitzgibbons, Richard. "Growing Up With Gay Parents: What Is The Big Deal?". NCBI, 2015, Accessed 3 Oct 2018.

Sullins, D. Paul. The Unexpected Harm Of Same-Sex Marriage: A Critical Appraisal, Replication And Re-Analysis Of Wainright And Patterson’S Studies Of Adolescents With Same-Sex Parents. 2nd ed., Sullins, 2015, pp. 1-22. Accessed 12 Oct 2018.

Parker, Jacob. The Effects Of Same-Sex Parenting On Child Development. Jacob Parker, 2016, pp. 1-6. Accessed 13 Oct 2018.

Hall, Jamie. "The Research On Same-Sex Parenting: “No Differences” No More". The Heritage Foundation, 2015. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

"The Impact Of Child Sexual Abuse On Mental Health". Child Family Community Australia, 2013. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

Willis, Olivia. "Same-Sex Marriage Debate Putting Kids At Risk, Experts Warn". ABC News, 2017. Accessed 14 Oct 2018.

Masci, David, and Drew DeSilver. "A Global Snapshot Of Same-Sex Marriage". Pew Research Center, 2018. Accessed 1 Oct 2018.

Faust, Katy. "Study The Studies- What We Know About Same-Sex Parenting | Them Before Us". Accessed 4 Oct 2018.

Fitzgibbons, Richard. "Growing Up With Gay Parents: What Is The Big Deal?". NCBI, 2015.