Adoption by Same-Sex Parents
Ana Martín-Ancel, MDDepartment of Pediatrics and Neonatology
Fundación Hospital Alcorcón
Budapest 1
28922 Alcorcón
Madrid, Spain
To the Editor.—
The American Academy of Pediatrics has always shown a consistent commitment to the integral health of children. In this context, a recently published document of the Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health has addressed the particular situation of children with homosexual parents. The technical report1 states that there are no differences in outcome between children raised by lesbian or gay parents and those raised by heterosexual parents, and on this basis promotes legislative and legal efforts to provide the possibility of adoption by the parents’ same-sex partners.2 However, as Dr Perrin and the Committee outline in the summary of their technical report, "the small and nonrepresentative samples studied and the relative young age of most of the children suggest some reserve."1
In fact, there are not reliable data on the number and location of children with homosexual parents (the Committee estimates a number somewhere between 1 million and 9 million). This, in part, accounts for the absence of studies based on random, representative samples. Up to now the scarce research available has largely relied on small groups of volunteers recruited through advertisements in homosexual magazines, snowball sampling techniques, or drawn from gay or lesbian associations. Small sizes may have resulted in low statistical power, and significant differences may have not been detected in some cases. Most studies have been conducted on white, well-educated, urban lesbians, even though homosexual parenthood is highly diverse and complex in ways of couple relationships, means of becoming parents, socioeconomic and legal status, ethnic variations, etc. Most lesbian mothers conceived in the context of heterosexual marriages, and the children lived with their fathers during their early years. Control groups, when evaluated, have generally included divorced heterosexual women, not representative of a familiar environment in which father and mother collaborate harmoniously in the development of their children. The most rigorous research has been performed on young children conceived through donor insemination techniques on homosexual and heterosexual couples of relatively high socioeconomic status, but at this moment the low age of the children precludes significant conclusions. Therefore, scientific methodology would call for an acknowledgment that the generalizability of the data available to the population of children with homosexual parents is very limited.
More important is the fact that available data do suggest modest but significant differences regarding the sexual orientation of children reared by lesbian and gay parents compared with those reared by heterosexual parents. Two studies published in scientific journals have directly evaluated the sexual orientation of children of gay or lesbian parents old enough to explore their sexuality in meaningful ways. As many people apparently do not become aware of their homosexuality until late adolescence or adulthood,3,4 few researchers would expect significant differences in sexual orientation and behavior between homosexually reared and heterosexually reared children in their early childhood. Golombok and Tasker5,6 performed a unique longitudinal study based on a sample evaluated 16 years earlier3 that was cited by the technical report as failing to document any difference between children with lesbian and heterosexual mothers in emotional and social development.1 Forty-six of these children were followed to early adulthood, and the researchers found a significantly higher incidence of same-gender sexual relationships among those raised by lesbian mothers (24%) compared with those raised by heterosexual single mothers (0%).5 The other study addressed the sexual orientation of 75 young adult children of gay or bisexual fathers, and found that 9% were nonheterosexual,7 providing evidence of a higher rate of homosexual behavior than that suggested by population-based surveys, around 1%.4 These findings are consistent with virtually all theories of child development, including cognitive, social constructionist, psychoanalytic, biological, etc.
In conclusion, research evidence to date has limitations in definitions, samples, and analysis, and therefore does not support firm statements. However, the scarce data available suggest that there is a difference between nonheterosexual and heterosexual parenting. Unfortunately, ideological and social pressures may be constraining the research in this field. Its political weight regarding child custody or planned lesbigay parenthood through fertility services or adoption is so high that the position of researchers may be influencing how studies are being designed, conducted, and interpreted.8 As pediatricians, we can only promote the health care and integral development of children of gay or lesbian parents if we are aware of the particular difficulties that they may face when reaching adolescence, such as sexual identity conflicts or the feeling of stigmatization. Neglecting the risks may preclude pediatricians to help children and parents to understand and cope with these issues.
REFERENCES
- Perrin EC and the AAP Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. Technical report: coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents.
Pediatrics.2002; 109
:341
–344
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Psychosocial Aspects of Child and Family Health. Coparent or second-parent adoption by same-sex parents.
Pediatrics.2002; 109
:339
–340
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Golombok S, Spencer A, Rutter M. Children in lesbian and single-parent households: psychosexual and psychiatric appraisal. J Child Psychol Psychiatry.1983; 24 :551 –572[Web of Science][Medline]
- Remafedi G, Resnick M, Blum R, Harris L. Demography of sexual orientation in adolescents.
Pediatrics.1992; 89
:714
–721
[Abstract/Free Full Text] - Golombok S, Tasker F. Do parents influence the sexual orientation of their children? Findings from a longitudinal study of lesbian families. Dev Psychol.1996; 32 :3 –11
- Tasker F, Golombok S. Adults raised as children in lesbian families. Am J Orthopsychiatry.1995; 65 :203 –215[Web of Science][Medline]
- Bailey JM, Bobrow D, Wolfe M, Mikach S. Sexual orientation of adult sons of gay fathers. Dev Psychol.1995; 31 :124 –129[CrossRef]
- Stacey J, Biblarz TJ. (How) Does the sexual orientation of parents matter? Am Sociol Rev.2001; 66 :159 –183
PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2002 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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