Children raised by two moms are doing just as well as kids raised by heterosexual couples, even at age 25
While conservatives still try to justify bigotry toward rainbow families, the longest-running survey of same-sex parenting shows kids raised by gay couples are doing great.
The study
The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) followed a group of lesbian parents since they first planned for kids in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Those children are about 25 years old now. According to the study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, they’re doing perfectly fine.
‘During the first epoch of the study (1986–1992), we recruited 154 prospective mothers from 84 planned lesbian families conceiving through donor insemination in Boston, Washington, D.C., and San Francisco,’ the explanation of the study reads.
The adult offspring of these lesbian couples self-reported their psychological health.
‘The Adult Self-Report is a validated, self-rating form for measuring adaptive functioning and behavioral or emotional problems among adults between the ages of 18 and 59 years.’
These reports were compared with the Achenbach normative sample of ‘persons in the United States with respect to age, sex, race or ethnic background, and educational level.’
‘A comparison of the NLLFS offspring sample and the matched Achenbach normative sample showed no significant between-group differences with respect to adaptive functioning (family, friends, spouse or partner relationships, and educational or job performance), behavioral or emotional problems, scores on mental health diagnostic scales, or the percentage of participants with a score in the borderline or clinical range.’
The study’s flaws
The study, however, does have its flaws. For instance, the sample size is too small. Because of this, there was little diversity in terms of race, ethnic background, gender identity, income, and education levels. Additionally, the study didn’t include same-sex male couples or use random samples.
Consistent results for same-sex parents
Regardless, the results are consistent with other studies about the mental and emotional wellbeing of children raised by same-sex couples. For example, a 2016 study that used a random sample of same-sex families found there were no differences in outcomes of the children. Another large study of same-sex families, conducted in Australia, actually found that children raised by same-sex couples were ‘happier and healthier’ than their peers. Data from the American National Health Interview Survey also found kids with same-sex parents do just as well as those with heterosexual parents.
The NLLFS study found ‘no significant differences in measures of mental health between those who were conceived through donor insemination and enrolled before they were born and those in a U.S. population–based normative sample.’
