GAY NEWS
Study Shows Children Adopted by Gay Couples are Emotionally Healthy
By L. K. Regan
Published Sep 29, 2009
Published Sep 29, 2009
Conservative advocacy groups such as the Family Research Council have long claimed that children adopted by gay couples suffer from more emotional issues than those placed with straight couples. Even though, as the American Psychological Association states, "beliefs that gay and lesbian adults are not fit parents have no empirical foundation," such prejudices have persisted. Last week, a study of over 1,300 adoptive couples provided further evidence of an intuitive truth: children adopted into gay families are every bit as emotionally healthy as straight couples' adoptees.
The new study was conducted by professors at the University of Texas at Arlington and at East Carolina University, using data from a survey of parents who adopted children through Florida's state child welfare agencies, as well as data on gay and lesbian adoptive couples nationally. The Florida survey results are particularly important because Florida is the only state that explicitly bans gays and lesbians from adopting, in fact requiring adoptive parents to sign a statement declaring that they are not gay. (Want to know if gay adoption is legal in your state, and on what terms? Click here for a state-by-state assessment of the law.) The study included nearly 1230 straight couples and 155 gay and lesbian couples. All were surveyed about their own characteristics and those of their children, their family's make-up and dynamics, the children's pre-adoptive history and their current emotional and behavioral functioning.
The results, published this month in the Adoption Quarterly, show that, in the words of lead study author Scott Ryan, dean of the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Arlington, "There is no difference in children raised by gay or lesbian parents and heterosexual parents. People are people." Added Paige Averett, an assistant professor of social work at East Carolina University, "There are implications for social work educators, adoption professionals and policy makers in this and other recent studies. We must pay attention to the data indicating that gay and lesbian parents are as fit as heterosexual parents to adopt, because at least 130,000 children are depending on us to act as informed advocates on their behalf." Averett was referring to the estimated number of children currently awaiting adoption in the U.S.
In fact, the study found that the major predictors of emotional problems in adopted children were age at adoption and pre-adoption sexual abuse, not the sexual orientation of any of the parents. Likewise, reduction in emotional problems was associated with higher annual income, a fluid adoption process, and functionality within the family—not with straight parents. As Blace Nalavany, another of the study authors and a professor of social work at East Carolina University told the press, "We did not find sexual orientation to be a significant predictor of behavioral problems." Period.
The new study was conducted by professors at the University of Texas at Arlington and at East Carolina University, using data from a survey of parents who adopted children through Florida's state child welfare agencies, as well as data on gay and lesbian adoptive couples nationally. The Florida survey results are particularly important because Florida is the only state that explicitly bans gays and lesbians from adopting, in fact requiring adoptive parents to sign a statement declaring that they are not gay. (Want to know if gay adoption is legal in your state, and on what terms? Click here for a state-by-state assessment of the law.) The study included nearly 1230 straight couples and 155 gay and lesbian couples. All were surveyed about their own characteristics and those of their children, their family's make-up and dynamics, the children's pre-adoptive history and their current emotional and behavioral functioning.
The results, published this month in the Adoption Quarterly, show that, in the words of lead study author Scott Ryan, dean of the School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Arlington, "There is no difference in children raised by gay or lesbian parents and heterosexual parents. People are people." Added Paige Averett, an assistant professor of social work at East Carolina University, "There are implications for social work educators, adoption professionals and policy makers in this and other recent studies. We must pay attention to the data indicating that gay and lesbian parents are as fit as heterosexual parents to adopt, because at least 130,000 children are depending on us to act as informed advocates on their behalf." Averett was referring to the estimated number of children currently awaiting adoption in the U.S.
In fact, the study found that the major predictors of emotional problems in adopted children were age at adoption and pre-adoption sexual abuse, not the sexual orientation of any of the parents. Likewise, reduction in emotional problems was associated with higher annual income, a fluid adoption process, and functionality within the family—not with straight parents. As Blace Nalavany, another of the study authors and a professor of social work at East Carolina University told the press, "We did not find sexual orientation to be a significant predictor of behavioral problems." Period.
zsocerstar wrote:
GO PIRATES!!! i love ECU for this, they just need all their other work published, aka like mine haha
Sep 30 12:45 PM
jrs1 wrote:
--- this brightened my morning! although I think there are limitations abound when concerning research ... I think this is all none too surprising a conclusion to reach. I cannot wait to have my own little ones running around, reminding me what is important in life.
Sep 30 11:18 AM
Chewey_Delt wrote:
Seems like there have been better studies than this in the past. Is asking parents about their kids really that great of a way to study the emotional health of these kids? I'm really not so sure it is; in fact, seems like a pretty shoddy way to go about it instead of just asking the kids themselves or studying their behavior in a controlled environment.
Sep 30 11:06 AM
sxydrkhair wrote:
It will be great to adopt kids... great article. Aren't those two cute couples from realjock? lol
Sep 30 8:50 AM
sxydrkhair wrote:
It will be great to adopt kids... great article. Aren't those two cute couples from realjock? lol
Sep 30 8:50 AM
Bunjamon wrote:
Gee, big surprise! I find that kids brought up by gay parents are often more well-rounded than kids brought up by (many) straight parents because of the obvious lack of the socially indictrinated fear of gays that pervades society.
Sep 30 8:14 AM