Study Suggests that Children of Lesbians Have Fewer Behavioral Problems

An article on the CNN website yesterday, June 7, 2010, reports findings of a 25-year study on children raised in Lesbian households, which concluded that they were psychologically well-adjusted and had fewer behavioral problems than their peers.

Beginning in 1986, Dr. Nanette Gartrell, the researcher and author of the study, recruited subjects and followed families from the time of pregnancy or the insemination process right on through to age 17. She assessed their psychological adjustment, peer and family relationships and well-being through a series of questionnaires based on the standard Child Behavioral Checklist. The data was compared with that of children living in non-lesbian families and households.

The outcome indicated that children in lesbian families rated higher in social, academic and total competence, and showed lower rates of rule-breaking and problem behavior.

Wendy Wright, President of the Concerned Women for America, a group that supports biblical values, questioned and challenged the legitimacy of the study, saying that because it was funded by The Lesbian Health Fund of the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association, and other LGBT organizations, that the study was agenda-driven and the information was swayed.

The closing paragraph of the article is actually a quote by Wendy Wright: "You have to be a little suspicious of any study that says children being raised by same-sex couples do better or have superior outcomes to children raised with a mother and father," she said. "It just defies common sense and reality."

It's interesting that Madison Park, the writer of the article, chose to end with a statement like that, ridden with heterosexism and the ignorant assumption that straight households are better and better for our children, period.

To read more of the article, click here.