Real World Event Discussions

Kids of lesbians have fewer behavioral problems, study suggests

POSTED BY: Niki2
UPDATED: Wednesday, June 9, 2010 02:03
VIEWED: 4422
PAGE 1 of 4

NIKI2

Monday, June 7, 2010 7:45 PM

Hah! Put THAT in your pipe and smoke it, Conservatives who are against gay couples having children!

Quote:
A nearly 25-year study concluded that children raised in lesbian households were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers.

The study, published Monday in the journal Pediatrics, followed 78 lesbian couples who conceived through sperm donations and assessed their children's well-being through a series of questionnaires and interviews.

Funding for the research came from several lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender advocacy groups, such as the Gill Foundation and the Lesbian Health Fund from the Gay Lesbian Medical Association.

Dr. Nanette Gartrell, the author of the study, wrote that the "funding sources played no role in the design or conduct of the study."

"My personal investment is in doing reputable research," said Gartrell. "This is a straightforward statistical analysis. It will stand and it has withstood very rigorous peer review by the people who make the decision whether or not to publish it."

Gay parenting remains a controversial issue, with debates about topics including the children's psychological adjustment, their parents' sexual orientation and adoption restrictions.

Wendy Wright, president of the Concerned Women for America, a group that supports biblical values, questioned the legitimacy of the findings from a study funded by gay advocacy groups.

"That proves the prejudice and bias of the study," she said. "This study was clearly designed to come out with one outcome -- to attempt to sway people that children are not detrimentally affected in a homosexual household."

Gartrell started the study in 1986. She recruited subjects through announcements in bookstores, lesbian events and newspapers throughout metro Boston, Massachusetts; San Francisco, California, and Washington.

The mothers were interviewed during pregnancy or the insemination process, and additionally when the children were 2, 5, 10 and 17 years old. Those children are now 18 to 23 years old.

They were interviewed four times as they matured and also completed an online questionnaire at age 17, focusing on their psychological adjustment, peer and family relationships and academic progress.

To assess their well-being, Gartrell used the Child Behavior Checklist, a commonly used standard to measure children's behavioral and social problems, such as anxiety, depression, aggressive behavior and social competence.

The answers were coded into a computer and then analyzed. This data was compared with data from children of nonlesbian families.

The results surprised Gartrell.

"I would have anticipated the kids would be doing as well as the normative sample," she said. "I didn't expect better."

Children from lesbian families rated higher in social, academic and total competence. They also showed lower rates in social, rule-breaking, aggressive problem behavior.

The involvement of mothers may be a contributing factor, in addition to the fact that the pregnancies were planned, Gartrell said.

Yeah, okay, the study may be biased; I wish someone would find one that isn't, 'cuz I think this study is more on the money than some would admit.

The children "didn't arrive by accident," she said. "The mothers were older... they were waiting for an opportunity to have children and age brings maturity and better parenting."

This also could have occurred because "growing up in households with less power assertion and more parental involvement has been shown to be associated with healthier psychological adjustment," Gartrell wrote in the study.

You have to be a little suspicious of any study that says children being raised by same-sex couples do better or have superior outcomes to children raised with a mother and father," she said. "It just defies common sense and reality."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/06/07/lesbian.children.adjustment/index
.html?hpt=Sbin

I don't find it all that questionable, nor that

WULFENSTAR

Monday, June 7, 2010 7:53 PM

Are you married?

Just wondering.

WHOZIT

Monday, June 7, 2010 8:10 PM

I agree, Barry's wife is a lezbo.

MINCINGBEAST

Monday, June 7, 2010 8:20 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Wulfenstar:
Are you married?

Just wondering.

Clearly, you were not raised by lesbians, but rather wolves.

BYTEMITE

Monday, June 7, 2010 8:41 PM

Quote:
Wendy Wright, president of the Concerned Women for America, a group that supports biblical values, questioned the legitimacy of the findings from a study funded by gay advocacy groups.

XD

Oh, that's bad. Well, of course they'd find in favour, and of course a biblical values group would take issue with that.

Neutrality is dead and dying. Everything is political now. Watch the Biblical group come out with a study that says flagellation is the proper punishment for children who do not honour their mother and father.

As for the study itself, ...? I guess. 25 years is a decent time, and they have a decent sample, (you can always have more). That should get rid of the wiggle room.

I guess I'm trying to figure out if this fits in with common sense. My desire for equal gender views wants to believe parents of both genders can raise children without behaviour problems. At the same time, perhaps there's an issue with authoritarian father figures that gay and lesbian couples can get around?

And if that's true, then there's something very unfortunate in how we're raising and sculpting the mindsets of young males, and the society and family revert-to-type depiction of the father figure. But I'm not prepared to say I believe that.

AURAPTOR

Monday, June 7, 2010 8:44 PM

Gays can't have kids

Everyone knows that.

It's a scientific fact.

** ANYONE ** who thinks the Fed Gov't has done " all it possibly can " in response the Gulf Coast oil disaster, or who thinks Obama isn't lying to us all - I have no use for you. You deserve all the animosity and any vulgar "tone" directed your way. ( Anthony , that includes you, buddy. Sorry )

TRAVELER

Monday, June 7, 2010 11:29 PM

Bias would show up in the questions the children were asked. If the work is published, then it faced scrutiny. And scrutiny by people who are not associated with they gay lifestyle.

I would also consider society has some influence. At some point friends and classmates are going to question these children about their parents. How these women helped their children through this period probably made them face very mature issues at an earlier stage then most children their age. This may account for some of their maturity. If this study were done in the sixties or started today, I suspect the results would be different. Putting Bible groups aside, society has evolved and gays are more accepted then a few decades ago. Hopefully this trend will continue and this may contribute positive changes in any further studies. I would not be surprised to find children of straight parents showing better social developement then their parents. To get a real feel for what is happening these studies need to continue through future generations to see what, if any, changes may occur.

http://www.imdb.com/mymovies/list?l=28764731
Traveler

KWICKO

Monday, June 7, 2010 11:37 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by AURaptor:
Gays can't have kids

Everyone knows that.

It's a scientific fact.

Melissa Etheridge begs to differ. Gay people have kids all the time.

Ted Haggard would say you're wrong, too. In 1978, Haggard married Gayle Alcorn. The couple have five children: Christy (1981), Marcus (1983) (founder and former pastor of Boulder Street Church, Colorado Springs), Jonathan (1987), Alex (1990), and Elliott (1993).

As usual, your grasp of "facts" is tenuous at best.

Mike

On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. --Auraptor

This vile and revolting malice - this is their true colors, always has been, you're just seeing it without the mask of justifications and excuses they hide it behind, is all. Make sure to remember it once they put the mask back on. --Fremdfirma

CITIZEN

Monday, June 7, 2010 11:44 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Niki2:
Yeah, okay, the study may be biased; I wish someone would find one that isn't, 'cuz I think this study is more on the money than some would admit.

I think it's probably likely to be suffering from a biased sample.

--------------------------------------------------

If you play a Microsoft CD backwards you can hear demonic voices. The scary part is that if you play it forwards it installs Windows.

NIKI2

Tuesday, June 8, 2010 12:41 AM

Traveler, yes, it mentioned stigma the kids got in school, etc.; I only posted part of the article to keep it as brief as possible. You can read the rest at the site if interested.

I still think there's a good chance kids raised by two lesbians might have a better chance of being "balanced" if you will than kids born to two hetero parents. After all, heteros haven't done so well thus far...and given the divorce rate, men leaving, etc., I think it's a viable option.

Wulf, that was very stupid, or only said to be a Obviously gay men AND women have married and had children before they realized they were gay.

I assume the snark about me being married is meant to infer I'm lesbian. I'm not; I'm bisexual and have been married for over 35 years.

Hippie Operative Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off

To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

To Niki: “My guess is it won't just be your ugly face you dislike.....Well, it's true......if you had a soul.” ...Raptor

...Remember, remember, the ugliest member...