Growing Up with 2 Moms: It does not Hurt the Child’s Mental Development

Summary

A 25-year study by the Williams Institute at UCLA found no difference in mental well-being between young adults raised by same-sex couples and those raised by heterosexual parents.

Abstract

The study, which followed 84 lesbian couples who had children through assisted reproduction, revealed that children raised by two mothers developed mentally and emotionally in line with their peers from heterosexual families. Conducted over a period of 25 years, the research involved standard mental health evaluations and comparisons with a control group of similar age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The findings, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggest that the absence of a father figure does not negatively impact psychological development, with children from same-sex parent families showing equal social and academic competence. This research adds to the body of evidence undermining the argument that same-sex parenting is detrimental to children's mental health.

Opinions

Professor Henny Bos, co-author of the study, asserts that children raised by same-sex couples do not suffer any harm, advocating against restrictions on custody, placement, or access to reproductive technology based on parents' sexual orientation.
The study challenges societal prejudices by providing empirical evidence that the sexual orientation of parents does not adversely affect children's mental and emotional health.
Previous studies on the same sample have consistently shown that the mental well-being of children with homosexual parents is

A U.S. study that lasted 25 years compared the well-being of people with same-sex parents with the children of heterosexuals. The difference? None

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Young adults who grew up in families with two mothers have the same mental well-being as those born in heterosexual families. This was supported by a 25-year study conducted by the Williams Institute of the University of California (UCLA) and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, which followed 84 couples made up of two women who had had a baby through assisted reproduction since 1986. The Williams Institute is no stranger to independent studies and research on sexual orientation and gender identity law. But this is one of the longest and most complete.

The researchers evaluated mental health through a standard questionnaire and the group of children of homosexual couples was compared with a similar sample of people of the same age, about 25 years old, children of heterosexuals. All subjects belonged to wealthy families, of the same ethnicity (Caucasian) and level of education. No difference was found between the two groups, which led researchers to argue that growing up in a family with same-sex parents has no negative effect on mental and emotional health.

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Prior to this examination, other 23 studies were published on the data collected on this sample. Previous research has shown that the development of mental well-being from pre-adolescence to adolescence of children of homosexual women did not differ substantially with children conceived by heterosexual parents. Moreover, the absence of a father figure has not adversely affected the psychological adaptation of 17 year old Youngs raised in homosexual families. At the age of 17 the subjects under observation scored higher on questionnaires that calculated terms of social and academic competence.

“These results show that it is not harmful for children to be raised by same-sex couples”. Said study co-author Henny Bos, Professor of Child Development and Education at the University of Amsterdam. “There is no justification for restricting custody or placement of children, or access to reproductive technology, on the basis of their parents’ sexual orientation”.