Kids raised by same-sex parents equal those of different-sex parents

New York, April 18 (IANS) Children raised in households with same-sex parents show no differences in outcomes of family relationships and child health as the kids of different-sex parents, a media report said on Monday.

Researchers found that households with same-sex parents show no difference from those with different-sex parents in terms of spouse or partner relationships, parent-child relationships, children's general health, emotional difficulties, coping and learning behaviour, mic.com reported.

"This study is the first to use a nationally representative survey to compare the two types of households by focusing only on those parents that have been in a continuous relationship," lead author Henny Bos from William's Institute in US was quoted as saying.

The team analysed 95 same-sex parent families to 95 different sex parent families based on criteria like education, location and race.

The findings showed no differences between the children of the two groups in terms of spouse or partner relationships, parent-child relationships, or any of the child outcomes.

However, the study also found that the same-sex parents were more stressed out those different-sex parents. But this could, ironically, be a result of the "cultural spotlight on child outcomes in same-sex parent families", added co-author Nanette Gartrel.

By comparing demographically similar families using national data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children's Health, the study was able to address "the primary accusation against the plentiful research is supporting same-sex parenting ... that the samples are skewed."

"Some of our earlier studies have shown that lesbian mothers feel pressured to justify the quality of their parenting because of their sexual orientation," Gartrel noted.