Children of Same-Sex Couples Are Emotionally Equal

A new Australian study that coincides with previous American research from 2005, shows the children of gay parents grow up with normal self-esteem. Melbourne University PhD student Simon Crouch and his team conducted one of the world’s largest studies on gay parents and the well-being of their children. Data was collected from 500 Australian children up to the age of 18 and found that kids growing up in gay and straight families matched equally when it came to self-esteem. In addition, the amount of time the kids spent with their parents as well as their emotional well-being were equally the same.

However, children of same-sex couples scored higher than the national average for overall health and family cohesion. Crouch hypothesized this is because gay parents are more likely to have experienced being teased, and therefore are better able to talk about similar issues with their children. “Because of the situation that same-sex families find themselves in, they are generally more willing to communicate and approach the issues that any child may face at school, like teasing or bullying,” says Crouch.

It’s worth noting that the vast majority of the same-sex parents involved in the study were women — 80 per cent exactly.

“The vast consensus of all the studies shows that children of same-sex parents do as well as children whose parents are heterosexual in every way,” lead researcher and pediatric doctor, Ellen C. Perrin,told WebMD at the time. “In some ways children of same-sex parents actually may have advantages over other family structures.” More here.