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A Review and Critique of Research on Same-Sex Parenting and Adoption
Abstract
Are the outcomes for children of gay, lesbian, or bisexual parents in general the same as those for heterosexual parents? That controversial question is discussed here in a detailed review of the social science literature in three parts: (1) stability of same-sex parental relationships, (2) child outcomes, and (3) child outcomes in same-sex adoption. Relationship instability appears to be higher among gay and lesbian parent couples and may be a key mediating factor influencing outcomes for children. With respect to part 2, while parental self-reports usually present few significant differences, social desirability or self-presentation bias may be a confounding factor. While some researchers have tended to conclude that there are no differences whatsoever in terms of child outcomes as a function of parental sexual orientation, such conclusions appear premature in the light of more recent data in which some different outcomes have been observed in a few studies. Studies conducted within the past 10 years that compared child outcomes for children of same-sex and heterosexual adoptive parents were reviewed. Numerous methodological limitations were identified that make it very difficult to make an accurate assessment of the effect of parental sexual orientation across adoptive families. Because of sampling limitations, we still know very little about family functioning among same-sex adoptive families with low or moderate incomes, those with several children, or those with older children, including adolescents or how family functioning may change over time. There remains a need for high-quality research on same-sex families, especially families with gay fathers and with lower income.
... Countries with universal healthcare schemes, such as Australia, England and Sweden, allow variability in access to ART, including zoning laws, distinctions between "clinically infertile" and "socially infertile", and the discretion concerning eligibility for financial support, which some have interpreted as ways to exclude lesbian and gay people from receiving financial assistance while allowing heterosexual couples to access financial support (Ehrich et al., 2006;Lind, 2020;Rickard, 2001). Furthermore, while adoption in Australia involves significant barriers for most citizens, reflected by halving numbers in the past decade (AIHW, 2019), critiques of parental fitness (Schumm, 2016) and variations in international legislation (Messina & Salvatore D' Amore, 2018;Perrin et al., 2019;Voiculescu & Groza, 2021) create additional barriers to adoption for LGBTQ+ people (Goldberg et al., 2007(Goldberg et al., , 2019Perales et al., 2020). ...
... Thus, parents of bisexual individuals could express how much they accept their children's sexuality while simultaneously expressing their desire that they choose to marry someone of the opposite sex. 6 Even though research on the intergenerational transfer of sexuality indicates that the offspring of lesbians and gay men are more likely to be non-heterosexual than the offspring of heterosexuals, it is still the case that most offspring of lesbians and gay men do not share their parents' sexual orientation (Gartrell et al., 2019;Golombok & Tasker, 1996;Javaid, 1993;Joos & Broad, 2007;Schumm, 2010Schumm, , 2013Schumm, , 2016 partners (Qian & Lichter, 2007), straight women are far more likely than straight men to use race/ethnicity as a status cue (more for Black men than for Asian men) (Lewandowski & Jackson, 2001), White women married to Asian or Black men divorce at significantly higher rates (Bratter & King, 2008), and minority males report that they experience greater disapproval from the family members and friends of White female partners (Miller et al., 2004). In line with this is research finding that interracial interminority Asian-Hispanic and Asian-Black couples are less likely to divorce their Hispanic-White and Black-White counterparts (Brown et al., 2018). ...
Not my type is the usual invocation when rejecting potential lovers who don't align with the racial hierarchy of mating preferences. The largely unchallenged norm of interracial intimacy aversion, particularly how the desire for some racial groups and rejection of others reinforces existing racial inequities, is inconsistent with the blanket notion of greater interracial acceptance. Our investigation assessed the openness of monoracial and multiracial individuals to form interracial romantic relationships. We partially replicated an interracial mate preference known as the Multiracial Dividend Effect, finding that most monoracial groups equally preferred same-race lovers and interracially dating multiracials, and they preferred interracially dating someone multiracial over any monoracial group, whereas Multiracials were more open to interracially dating any monoracial group than monoracials were to interracially date each other. In addition, Hispanic-White and East Asian-White multiracials were more open to interracially dating White individuals than their respective monoracial in-group members, and East Asian-White multiracials were more open to interracially dating all monoracial minority groups than monoracial East Asian participants. Finally, half-White multiracials are more likely to be in partial-racial couples (e.g., former President of the United States Barack Obama is Black-White multiracial and the former First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, is Black) whereas interminority multiracials are more likely to be in 100% interracial/non-overlapping couples (e.g., Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris is interminority Tamil Indian and Black whereas the Second Gentleman of the United States, Doug Emhoff, is White).
... LGBTQ parents may feel they need to prove to predominantly heterosexual society that they are accomplished and worthy parents, e.g., [76], which might be linked with socially desirable responses that may bias results. Therefore, we recommend that future studies comparing LGBTQ with heterosexual parent families should measure and control for individual and parental social desirability, alongside other possible biases such as in the selection of participants [81][82][83]. ...
This paper reviews research on gay and lesbian parent families in Israel through cultural lenses while recognizing the diversity of these families. The major aims of the review are: (1) to provide an overview of the situation of LGBTQ parent families in Israel, as well as of the sociocultural background of the Israeli context and its effects on sexual minorities and LGBTQ parent families; and (2) to identify the limitations and lacunas in the existing research and shed light on what remains to be explored. We searched numerous databases for relevant studies, adopting a narrative approach to summarize the main findings while taking into account the literature on the socio-cultural context in Israel and its impact on sexual minorities and LGBTQ parent families. The search yielded empirical results only for gay and lesbian parent families, with studies emphasizing the challenges they face and the factors related to their well-being and that of LGB individuals aspiring to become parents. In addition, it revealed that research on children’s psychosocial adjustment as a function of parental sexual orientation is quite scarce in Israel. Moreover, it indicated the absence of investigations of bisexual, transgender, or queer parents. We conclude that the sociocultural context of Israel, including its pronatalist and familistic orientation, may play an important role in shaping the experiences of LGBTQ parent families, and should be taken into consideration when studying LGBTQ parents.
... Oreskes and Conway (2011) explained that for several highly sensitive issues, such as "smoking, climate change, acid rain, ozone hole, and DDT" prominent scientists and front organizations had promoted disinformation on those topics, including influencing the scientific literature in a biased -but probably a socially desirable -way. Another way bias can influence the literature is to cite research incorrectly: to cite reviews of the literature that present mixed findings as if they favored one side entirely (e.g., Flores & Morrison, 2021;Schumm, 2016) or ignore the larger context of research that might be less one-sided (e.g., Schumm, 2018;Schumm, 2020a, b). There are also general issues of confirmation bias (Schumm, 2021). ...
While a few have argued that social science has been subject to progressive biases, others have discounted such ideas. However, no one has yet performed empirical tests over a large range of studies for such possible bias, which we label macro-level social desirability (MLSD). Combining the results from fifty-nine empirical studies that assessed rates of nonheterosexuality among children of same-sex parents, we found that the higher the maximum rates reported, the less likely those reports were to have been cited in Google Scholar by counts or by annual rate, which may reflect MLSD. However, after several statistical controls, the association for counts became non-significant, while the association for rates became stronger, although the effect sizes were in a moderate (d = .28 or higher) to large range (d, up to .68) by either analysis. Generally, research quality acted as a suppressor variable for MLSD but was significantly related to both counts and rates of citations, indicating that higher quality articles were more likely to have been cited, even controlling for the number of years since first publication. Higher quality articles were slightly more likely to report higher rates of nonheterosexuality among children of same-sex parents. We discuss implications of our findings and suggest future directions of research.
This chapter dispenses findings and results from different literature reviews done in the area of LGBTQ adoption rights. The topic has been explored through a multilateral approach. Literature reviews of various disciplines like human rights, psychology, sociology, law, and politics have been incorporated to provide a comprehensive picture to the readers. A notable fact is that sexual minority people are capable of adoption and having families. Adoption by LGBTQ community is legal in countries like Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. But genuine effort is needed to legalise adoptions among LGBTQ populations in more nations. Many countries previously open to international adoptions are now raising barriers for interested adoptive parents from other countries. Further focus is given to the future challenges in legalizing LGBTQ peoples' adoption rights, which includes stressors for LGBTQ parents, such as misconceptions about gender and sexual minorities, opposition of strong religious views and laws, and poor economic and education systems of a country.
The book offers perspectives on the rights of sexual minorities in the Global South. In several countries, consensual sexual activity in private amongst persons of the same gender is still criminalized. The argument is that same-sexual relationships are 'uncultural' or 'unnatural'. In countries where anti-gay laws persist, the rights of LGBT persons are not considered human rights.
The book seeks to examine the cultural and religious issues that influence anti-gay laws in juxtaposition with the need to protect the human rights of sexual minorities in the 21st century. The book adopts the following disciplinary prisms – legal, sociological, political, religious, and anthropological. There is a growing appetite for research in this area in order to advance the need for the decriminalization of same-sex sexual activity amongst consenting adults in private. The book examines the core issues from an interdisciplinary perspective. It serves as a resource for scholars in diverse fields who research this area such as lawyers, policymakers, and academics in the fields of religion, philosophy, law, anthropology, sociology, and criminology.
College students’ parenting intentions have received increased attention by scholars around the world in recent years, but little is known about potential demographic differences affecting the decision, such as gender and sexual orientation. The study proposed and empirically examined a model of the relationships between gender, sexual orientation, social self-concept, and parenting intentions in a large sample of university students on the west coast of the United States. The study found that social self-concept mediated the relationship between gender and parenting intentions for heterosexual students, but not for non-heterosexual students.
Purpose:
Surrogacy is an arrangement by which a surrogate mother bears a child for another couple or person, and is often thought of as a form of 'treatment' for couples (or even individuals) with fertility or sterility issues. Still, surrogacy entails ethical issues related to gender, fundamental human rights, exploitation and inequality.
Materials and methods:
Starting from the Italian state of affairs, the authors have set out to briefly expound upon such complexities, taking into account relevant jurisprudence on the subject, with a particular focus on inter-country surrogacy and second-parent adoption, which can themselves engender significant legal dilemmas. When residents of countries where surrogacy is banned travel abroad and hire a surrogate, that may lead to considerable legal hurdles as well.
Results:
In Italy and elsewhere, the courts have all too often had to fill the vacuum left by the lack of targeted legislation. The Italian Constitutional Court has recently urged lawmakers to enact new legislation to uphold the minor's best interests. In fact, while some countries recognise the surrogate as the legal parent, others ascribe parenthood to the commissioning parents. That discrepancy can lead to a 'clash of laws', resulting in children ending up stateless and unable to maintain an already established family relationship.
Conclusions:
Just like fundamental protection of human rights and public health, the regulation of revolutionary technologies that change the very notion of reproduction, parenthood, and human identity needs to be governed by uniform standards, shared at least by nations which espouse common core values.
This chapter deals with the issue of reliance on scientific claims in contexts other than scientific ones. Both social and natural sciences are supposed to be able to provide decision-making processes with objective and neutral points of view on the natural order. Nevertheless, several factors—such as the constant evolution of scientific research, scientific uncertainty, and social implications of scientific debates—make increasingly difficult to access clearly reliable scientific knowledge. The thirty-year scientific- public dispute between the official hypothesis on HIV/AIDS and the so-called ‘AIDS denialism’ allows us to corroborate this general observation. Taking this example as a starting point and common thread, the author discusses the importance of improving experts’ communication towards society and the need to provide lay-persons with reasonable explanations. Indeed, paradigmatic comparative case-law confirm that also judges have to independently decide whether to admit scientific evidence in court, determining which claims are (more) reliable (than others). In his conclusions, the author points out that better scientific communication requires accepting complexity and constant variability characterising scientific matters. Instead, over-reliance on science might induce a lack of trust in scientific institutions, inevitably increasing relativism, confusion, and manipulation.
Psychology celebrates diversity, recognizes the value and legitimacy of diverse beliefs, and strives to be inclusive. Yet, the profession lacks sociopolitical diversity. Most psychologists are politically liberal, and conservatives are vastly underrepresented in the profession. Moreover, when sociopolitical views guide the research, advocacy, or professional practice of psychologists, those views most often are liberal. The lack of political diversity in psychology has unintended negative consequences for research, policy advocacy, clinical practice, the design and implementation of social interventions, and professional education. It excludes or marginalizes conservatives and conservative views, having detrimental effects on the profession in each of these areas. This article examines the importance of political diversity and the negative consequences of its absence and provides strategies for increasing sociopolitical pluralism in psychology.
Depression is a widespread condition affecting approximately 7.5 million parents in the U.S. each year and may be putting at least 15 million children at risk for adverse health outcomes. Based on evidentiary studies, major depression in either parent can interfere with parenting quality and increase the risk of children developing mental, behavioral and social problems. Depression in Parents, Parenting, and Children highlights disparities in the prevalence, identification, treatment, and prevention of parental depression among different sociodemographic populations. It also outlines strategies for effective intervention and identifies the need for a more interdisciplinary approach that takes biological, psychological, behavioral, interpersonal, and social contexts into consideration. A major challenge to the effective management of parental depression is developing a treatment and prevention strategy that can be introduced within a two-generation framework, conducive for parents and their children. Thus far, both the federal and state response to the problem has been fragmented, poorly funded, and lacking proper oversight. This study examines options for widespread implementation of best practices as well as strategies that can be effective in diverse service settings for diverse populations of children and their families. The delivery of adequate screening and successful detection and treatment of a depressive illness and prevention of its effects on parenting and the health of children is a formidable challenge to modern health care systems. This study offers seven solid recommendations designed to increase awareness about and remove barriers to care for both the depressed adult and prevention of effects in the child. The report will be of particular interest to federal health officers, mental and behavioral health providers in diverse parts of health care delivery systems, health policy staff, state legislators, and the general public. © 2009 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Lesbian relationships are complex and unique in many ways. The creation and maintenance of relationships begins with unique bonds and highly valued friendship networks that involve social support, trust, and shared experiences. A host of factors contribute to the overall quality of lesbian relationships and the degree of relationship satisfaction. Some of these factors include the disclosure of sexual orientation, external social support, role conflict, quality of alternatives, investment, and differences based on race/ethnicity, social class, and age. Lesbian couples face various societal and legal barriers that limit their options, such as being excluded from the institution of marriage and discrimination in raising children. Everyday experiences of discrimination, prejudice, stigma, and management of a lesbian identity also contribute to the vulnerability of lesbians and lesbian relationships.
Examines the influence of lesbian family structure on parenting within the context of both psychodynamic and family systems theories by providing a review of the literature, as well as information based on the author's clinical work with lesbians and their families. The uniqueness of the lesbian family is considered, and the varieties of lesbian family structure are outlined (e.g., blended, single parent, couples having children together, donors, and noncustodial fathers). The impact of parenting is discussed in terms of common issues in lesbian distance and boundary regulation, power/equality, shared parenting, relationships with extended families, lesbian friendship networks, and issues unique to lesbian "divorce."
An important first step in research on gay or lesbian parenting includes accurately documenting the number of children who are being raised by gay or lesbian parents. US census data can provide accurate estimates of the number of children being raised by same-sex couples, but children being raised by gay or lesbian single parents cannot be identified in this data. We use self-reported sexual orientation data from 9,197 respondents of the National Survey of Family Growth to calculate the number of children being raised by a gay or lesbian parent. We find that about 240,000 children in the US are being raised by a gay or lesbian parent (about a third of which are single parents). This estimate is significantly lower than previous estimates, due largely to how we categorize parents who report being bisexual.
Contemporary western societies are characterized by a growing diversification of family types. Families have changed dramatically over time due to economic, demographic, cultural, and political factors. The diversity of families is evident in the growth of nontraditional family structures. Within this challenging context, the phenomenon of homosexual parenting – a term that includes all those families in which at least one adult who defines himself/herself as homosexual is the parent of at least one child – has for some time been an emerging reality in many western societies. While in the past the children in homosexual families generally came from a previous heterosexual relationship, now the decision to become a parent is increasingly disconnected from heterosexuality, with possibilities having been opened up by assisted reproductive techniques but also by access to adoption. Within this context of change, the phenomenon of planned gay fatherhood has emerged: this is part of a broader process of social change that involves family life (Ruspini 2013).
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/9781119085621.wbefs185