Same Sex Parenting Gets The Thumbs Up

In one of the world’s largest study of children of same-sex parents the results are indicationg that these kids are thriving.

Five hundred Children  up to the age of 17 across Australia were involved in the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families. Majority of parents who completed the globally recognised child health questionaire majority were women.

So far the report has found no difference between children of same sex couples and those who are brought up with heterosexual parents on indicators including self-esteem, emotional behaviour and the amount of time spent with parents.

Children of same-sex couples did  score higher  for overall health and family cohesion looking at how well a family functions and gets along.

Researchers said the difference between the two groups on these measures was so strong it would only occur by chance less than one in 10,000 times.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd said the wellbeing of children had been ”the sole remaining obstacle” to his supporting same-sex marriage. He announced his change of heart last month.

In his blog post on May 20, Mr Rudd referred to several American studies that found ”same-sex families do not compromise children’s development”.

Although the researchers are yet to fully determine why kids from same sex families perform better with indicators such as family cohesion the lead reseracher from the Melbourne University,  Simon Crouch said:

”Because of the situation that same-sex families find themselves in, they are generally more willing to communicate and approach the issues that any child may face at school, like teasing or bullying,” Dr Crouch said. ”This fosters openness and means children tend to be more resilient. That would be our hypothesis. The study will also look at whether there is a correlation between the wellbeing of children, and the discrimination their family might experience in schools, childcare, healthcare services and via the media. ”This can range from poorly informed comments to teasing, bullying, overt homophobia and rejection,” Dr Crouch said.

Data from the Census completed in 2011 showed there were 6120 children under the age of 25 in same sex families. Dr Crouch believes there could be many more than this even up to double this amount due to under reporting.