Washington: Children of gay dads grow up just as well behaved and adjusted as those from any heterosexual family units, according to a recent study.
Compared to a national sample of heterosexual parents, gay fathers report similar parenting behavior and measures of wellbeing in their children, according to new research to be presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) 2016 Meeting.
Participants responded to the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, which includes questions about children's well-being, such as academic achievement, self-esteem and peer relationships.
Responses from gay fathers were virtually no different when compared with those in a federally assembled, national comparative sample, according to study authors. For example, 88 percent of the study respondents said it was "not true" that their child is unhappy or depressed, compared with 87 percent of the comparative sample. Similarly, 72 percent of participants responded that their child does not "worry a lot," compared with 75 percent of the general population.
"Because stigma continues to interfere with the efforts of gay men to become parents and with the lives of gay men and their children, our research underscores the need for social and legal protections for families headed by same-sex parents," said principal investigator Ellen C. Perrin.
"Our data add to those of other investigators showing that children of same-sex parents do as well in every way as children whose parents are heterosexual."
