While the LGBT+ community has made recent strides across the globe, most notably the legalization of gay marriage across the U.S., there have still been controversial debates over same-sex parenting and whether it leads to disadvantaged children. This controversy is most apparent in the sphere of religion, but it has officially been disproven by science that kids raised by same-sex parents will grow up any differently than kids raised by heterosexual parents.
A study published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics notes that it is the quality of parenting, not the sexual orientation of the parents, which leads to the well-being of children. What’s important is the quality of the family relationships, not the structure of the family.
The study conducted research by asking children aged 6-17 questions about “parent-child relationship, children’s emotional difficulties, coping behaviour, and learning behaviour.” The study looked at intact families with no history of separation, instead of families of divorce. Same-sex parents scored higher in stress, but the results did not show any difference between children in either household, same-sex or heterosexual.
This is welcome news for all of us—we’re one step closer to a more inclusive society and this science-backed information will hopefully help convince the doubters.
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