Adoptive Children of LGBT Parent Develop Well, Study Finds

August 26, 2010

Research into how well children of same sex couples do, is not dependent on sexual orientation, as many critics have pointed out, but depends on family stress according to the latest research.

A new University of Virginia study has found that children develop well regardless of their parents’ sexuality.

The study looked at 106 adoptive children, with 50 parented by heterosexual couples, 27 by lesbian couples and 29 by gay couples. The children, adopted since infancy, showed that their development was unaffected by the sexual orientation of their parents.

The University of Virginia and George Washington researchers said: "Overall, children adopted early in life by lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents appeared to be thriving."

"Our findings revealed, for the first time, that young children adopted early in life by lesbian and gay parents were as well-adjusted as those adopted by heterosexual parents. Our results suggest that lesbian and gay adults can and do make capable adoptive parents."

The latest research is hoped to add clout to the current gay adoption debate and legal fight in the United States, hopefully silencing opinions that same sex couples are not as effective in parenting young children.

Researchers said: "Our findings are also at odds with the notion that only heterosexual adults make capable parents and that lesbian and gay parents are somehow ineffective or harmful. In this sample, regardless of whether they had one mother and one father, two mothers, or two fathers, children were thriving."