Lesbian and Gay Families with Children: Implications of Social Science Research for Policy

Abstract

In this paper, we provide an overview of variability across jurisdictions in family law relevant to lesbian and gay parents and their children, showing that some courts have been negatively disposed to these families. We summarize recent research findings suggesting that lesbian and gay parents are as likely as are heterosexual parents to provide home environments that support positive outcomes among children. Research findings suggest that unless and until the weight of evidence can be shown to have shifted, parental sexual orientation should be considered irrelevant to disputes involving child custody, visitation, foster care, and adoption.

Families of the Lesbian baby boom: Maternal mental health and child adjustment

“…Assessments of maternal mental health, in contrast, were significant predictors of outcomes for children. Although preliminary in nature, the current findings thus can be interpreted to suggest that judges who wish to maximize the best interests of children in custody disputes involving lesbian mothers should focus attention not on household composition as such but rather on conditions that are associated with maternal mental health (Patterson & Redding, 1996).…”

“…In contrast to expectations based on psychological research, the legal system in the United States has often operated on the basis of very different assumptions (Falk, 1989;Flaks, 1994;Patterson & Redding, 1996;Polikoff, 1986;Rivera, 1991). Judges have sometimes forbidden mothers to retain custody of minor children while living with lesbian partners; others have forbidden mothers from even so much as visiting overnight with their children in the presence of a lesbian partner (see Patterson & Redding, 1996).…”

“…Judges have sometimes forbidden mothers to retain custody of minor children while living with lesbian partners; others have forbidden mothers from even so much as visiting overnight with their children in the presence of a lesbian partner (see Patterson & Redding, 1996). Such decisions would appear to reflect the view that whatever benefits a stable twoparent lesbian home might provide must be offset by the child's exposure to the mother's lesbian relationship, such that the net results for children in a two-parent lesbian home would be negative.…”

Psychosocial Adjustment, School Outcomes, and Romantic Relationships of Adolescents With Same‐Sex Parents

“…The issue of parental sexual orientation has received a great deal of attention recently from a variety of sources, including the popular press, the research community (Stacey & Biblarz, 2001), and the medical profession (Perrin, 1998). This topic is important both because of its implications for theories of socialization (Golombok, 1999;Golombok & Tasker, 1994) and because of its relevance to recent controversies in law and social policy, both in the United States and abroad (Golombok, 2002;Patterson, Fulcher, & Wainright, 2002;Patterson & Redding, 1996; Perrin & Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health, 2002). Thus, it is not surprising that a growing body of empirical research has examined psychosocial outcomes among children who are raised by parents who have same-sex partners.…”

Mothers, Fathers, or Parents: Same-Gendered Families in South Africa

“…The legal concerns for the welfare of the children centred on the availability of a father figure to act as a role model in the case of lesbian parents, on the possibility -described as a 'mythical beliefthat gay parents might molest their own or somebody else's children, on an alleged lack of stability in this type of parental relationship, and on the possible impact of a gay parent's sexual orientation on a child (Causey & Duran-Aydintug, 1997;Lynch & Murray, 2000;Patterson & Redding, 1996). This research was specifically directed at establishing what influence, if any, the parent's own sexual orientation might have on the child's own gender identity and sexual orientation, personal development, and social relations.…”