By Bob Kecskemety
Photo:“Modern Family’ Image Courtesy ABC.com
WORCESTER, MA – Gay parents “tend to be more motivated, more committed than heterosexual parents on average, because they chose to be parents,” says Abbie Goldberg, research psychologist at Clark University in Massachusetts, who studies gay and lesbian parenting. According to Goldberg, gays and lesbians rarely become parents by accident, compared with an almost 50 percent accidental pregnancy rate among heterosexuals. “That translates to greater commitment on average and more involvement,” added Goldberg.
According to Live Science, research indicates that while kids of gay parents show few differences in achievement, mental health, social functioning, and other measures, these kids may have the advantage of open-mindedness, tolerance, and role models for equitable relationships. Gays and lesbians are also more likely to provide homes for difficult-to-place children in the foster system. Research suggests that gays and lesbians are more likely than heterosexuals to adopt older, special-needs, and minority children. Preference may partly account for that, and may partly be founded upon discrimination by adoption agencies that put more difficult children with “less desirable”—in the opinion of caseworkers–parents. Furthermore, the research has shown that the kids of same-sex couples–both adopted and biological kids–fare no worse than the kids of straight couples in terms of mental health, social functioning, school performance, and a variety of other life-success measures.
