Children Raised by Gay or Lesbian Adoptive Parents No Different Than Children Raised by Straight Adoptive Parents

(Sept. 28) Researchers found that children raised by same-sex gay and lesbian parents had no more of a propensity for behavioral or emotional issues than children raised by opposite-sex parents.

The study, published in this month's Adoption Quarterly, was authored by Scott Ryan, the new dean of The University of Texas at Arlington School of Social Work, and Paige Averett and Blace Nalavany, assistant professors of social work at East Carolina University.

"Our research shows that there is no difference in children raised by gay or lesbian parents and heterosexual parents," said Ryan.

“Emotional problems of adopted children were more likely predicted by age and pre-adoptive sexual abuse”, Averett added.

The study also found that an increase in annual income, family operation and parental satisfaction with adoption preparation services could lead to significantly less emotional problems.

"But we did not find sexual orientation to be a significant predictor of behavioral problems," Nalavany said.

The researchers used survey results from parents who adopted children through Florida's public child welfare system and data from gay and lesbian couples throughout the United States.

The study included 155 gay and lesbian couples and 1,229 heterosexual couples. Couples responded to questions about parent and child characteristics, family composition and dynamics, the child's pre-adoptive history (or a history of maltreatment), and current emotional and behavioral functioning.

These finding have significant implications to the social paranoia of gay and lesbian adoption and legislation barring queer couples from adopting.