From the “not that those of us here needed proof, but it’s good to have” files, a new study from the University of Virginia has found that the adoptive children of same-sex parents were on average “developing in typical ways.”
“We found that children adopted by lesbian and gay couples are thriving,” said U.Va. psychology professor Charlotte J. Patterson, who led the study. Her research used standardized procedures to assess a sample of 106 preschool-age children across the country who had been adopted at birth by same- or opposite-sex couples. She found that whether or not the children were well adjusted and developing in positive ways was unrelated to the sexual orientation of their adoptive parents.
Patterson’s work supports that of Drs. Nanette Gartrell and Henny Bos, whose National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) has looked at biological children of lesbian parents, and Dr. Abbie Goldberg, whose research covers both biological and adoptive parents. (Goldberg’s book, Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children
Patterson’ study also concludes what many other studies have found—but it bears repeating (my emphasis): “Regardless of their parents’ sexual orientation, how well children were adjusted was significantly associated with how warmly their parents were oriented to them.”
The results appear in the August issue of the journal Applied Developmental Science.
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What a shocker! (not)
That file folder of mine (the “not that those of us here needed proof, but it’s good to have” one) is groaning, so much so it’s sprouted a whole file of the file cabinet. But you’re right: it’s good to have.
I saw an interview of Julianne Moore recently in which she cited the Gartrell/Bos study as illustration of how “given” it is that there are no fundamental, open questions about the mental health of kids raised in same-sex-parented families. I didn’t see the transcripts of Judge Walker’s hearing of the case against Prop 8, but I know Gartrell’s most recent chapter of her findings came out before the trial’s arguments closed, and that the “best interests of the children” was part of the defense.
I am reminded that a minority, but a significant one (by Pew’s recent estimate: 37% of American respondents) still feel we’re unfit parents by virtue of our doing so with members of the same sex. Studies like these kick in a door that needs (ultimately) to remain open, but swings shut for too many.
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