Gay parents must be proud to know that a recent study shows that children of gays are happier and healthier. Researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia concluded that gay families provide better health and family cohesion.
The research studied 500 children and 315 gay parents. The lot has more lesbians, about 80 percent of them. Only 18 percent had male parents. The study's aim was to "describe the physical, mental and social well-being" of the children and determine the "impact that stigma has on them."
Surprisingly, children raised by gay parents scored higher by six percent than those the other kids who have parents who are heterosexual.
In terms of behavior, self-esteem and mental health, children from both groups scored almost the same.
"It's often suggested that children with same-sex parents have poorer outcomes because they're missing a parent of a particular sex. But research my colleagues and I published in the journal BMC Public Health shows this isn't the case," Simon Crouch, lead researcher of the study, said.
"What this leads to is a more harmonious family unit and therefore feeding on to better health and wellbeing," Crouch, a gay parent himself, also shared.
According to Crouch, another reason for the finding is that housework is distributed equally in a household with gay parents.
Not everyone is convinced with this kind of study. Pediatrics professor Benjamin Siegel Boston University School of Medicine said such study is limited because there are not much same-sex parents.
Rosyln Phillips, Family Voice Australia research officer suggested to look beyond the research.
"I wasn't surprised that these parents who volunteered for the study all thought their children were doing well. You've got to look beyond studies like these to what happens when the child reaches adulthood, and that's the only time with independent assessment you can really say what's gone on with the parenting," Phillips mentioned to ABC Radio Australia.
While the numbers show a general high score in social well-being and physical health, there is still a problem of stigmas. Family structure can be confusing right now which may further have an impact on the children's emotional well-being, according to Crouch.
