I wrote a month ago about new results from the National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) that showed the teen children of lesbian parents were happy, healthy, and in many cases better adjusted than their peers. The results spawned the usual spate of articles shouting that lesbian parents are better, or even implying that dads […]
A new report from the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest study of American lesbian families, has found that the 17-year-old children of lesbian mothers, all conceived through donor insemination, “were rated higher than their peers in social, academic, and overall competence, and lower in aggressive behavior, rule-breaking, and social problems, on
Everyone’s been asking the question. The New York Times: “Are Same-Sex Couples Better Parents?” The Advocate: “Gay Parents Better than Straight?” SF Gate: “Are same-sex couples better parents?” The Dallas Voice: “Do gays and lesbians make better parents?” All were talking about the research in Lesbian and Gay Parents and Their Children: Research on the
“Children of same-sex couples are as likely to make normal progress through school as the children of most other family structures. . . . To the extent that normal progress through primary school is a useful and valid measure of child development, the results confirm that children of same-sex couples appear to have no inherent
Children with lesbian mothers have a lower risk of developing mental illnesses than those growing up with a father and a mother, according to a new University of Copenhagen study. The researchers found that during a 16-year period, five percent of children from traditional families in the study developed conditions such as depression or anorexia,
The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), the longest-running and largest investigation of its kind, has published two new reports, in the American Journal of Orthopsychiatry and Journal of Lesbian Studies. I gave Mombian readers a sneak peek at the results in my interview with Dr. Nanette Gartrell, the lead investigator, in August. Bottom line?
(Originally published in Bay Windows, January 22, 2008). Dr. Blase Masini wants to spend time with your family—or at least with data about you. The developmental psychologist and head of the research department at Howard Brown Health Center, a leading LGBT health care organization in Chicago, has launched a nationwide study of LGBT parenting, and
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ran a story today asking What Happens to Kids Raised by Gay Parents? It’s notable for profiling one child who is straight and one who is gay. This is a rare look at “second-generation” LGBT individuals and a needed recognition that while LGBT parents won’t necessarily have LGBT children, statistically, some of
A few weeks ago, a publicist for Peggy Drexler’s new book, Raising Boys Without Men: How Maverick Moms Are Creating the Next Generation of Exceptional Men, contacted me and asked if I’d review it on Mombian. The book, a study of lesbian moms and single moms raising sons, seemed relevant, so I agreed.
From the “But We Knew This” department: Research presented at the American Academy of Pediatrics Conference and Exhibition last week concluded there are no overall difference in self-esteem, gender identity, or emotional problems between children of same-sex parents and children of opposite-sex parents. Ellen C. Perrin, professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine,
