|
Resource Links -- Parenting/Family Issues
Policy Statements of Professional Organizations
American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (1999)
“There is no evidence to suggest or support that parents with a gay, lesbian, or bisexual orientation are per se different from or deficient in parenting skills, child-centered concerns and parent-child attachments, when compared to parents with a heterosexual orientation.” (full text)
American Academy of Family Physicians (October 2002)
"RESOLVED, That the AAFP establish policy and be supportive of legislation which promotes a safe and nurturing environment, including psychological and legal security, for all children, including those of adoptive parents, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation."
American Academy of Pediatrics (2002)
“The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes that a considerable body of professional literature provides evidence that children with parents who are homosexual can have the same advantages and the same expectations for health, adjustment, and development as can children whose parents are heterosexual.” (full text)
American Family Therapy Academy Policy on Definition of the Family “It is furthermore the position of this organization that to assure recognition, support and equality for all families, the public definition of the family must be expanded to include, among others, single parents with children, gay and lesbian couples, stepfamilies, adults raising foster children, and unmarried heterosexual couples in committed relationships.” (full text)
American Medical Association (2004)
"RESOLVED, That our American Medical Association support legislative and other efforts to allow the adoption of a child by the same-sex partner, or opposite sex non-married partner, who functions as a second parent or co-parent to that child.” (Res. 204, A-04)
American Psychiatric Association (1997 and 2002)
The American Psychiatric Association supports initiatives which allow same-sex couples to adopt and co-parent children and supports all the associated legal rights, benefits, and responsibilities which arise from such initiatives. (full text)
American Psychological Association (1976 and 2004)
“THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED That the APA opposes any discrimination based on sexual orientation in matters of adoption, child custody and visitation, foster care and reproductive health services;”
“THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That the APA believes that children reared by a same-sex couple benefit from legal ties to each parent;
“THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED That the APA supports the protection of parent-child relationships through the legalization of joint adoptions and second parent adoptions of children being reared by same-sex couples…” (full text)
American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Statement of Sexual Orientation and Civil Rights (1992)
“… the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry finds that there is no evidence that lesbians and gay men, per se, represent any threat to the development of children or adolescents and condemns any restriction on employment or service based on sexual orientation in positions involving the delivery of services or treatment to children and adolescents.” (full text)
American Academy of Family Physicians Policy Statement on Children’s Health (2002-2007)
“The AAFP establish policy and be supportive of legislation which promotes a safe and nurturing environment, including psychological and legal security for all children, including those of adoptive or foster parents, regardless of the parents' sexual orientation.” (2002) (March Board 2007) (full text)
American Psychoanalytic Association
POSITION STATEMENT -- Gay and Lesbian Parenting (Adopted May 16, 2002.)
“The American Psychoanalytic Association supports the position that the salient consideration in decisions about parenting, including conception, child rearing, adoption, visitation and custody is the best interest of the child. Accumulated evidence suggests the best interest of the child requires attachment to committed, nurturing and competent parents. Evaluation of an individual or couple for these parental qualities should be determined without prejudice regarding sexual orientation. Gay and lesbian individuals and couples are capable of meeting the best interest of the child and should be afforded the same rights and should accept the same responsibilities as heterosexual parents. With the adoption of this position statement, we support research studies that further our understanding of the impact of both traditional and gay/lesbian parenting on a child's development.” Web site: http://www.apsa.org/ABOUTAPSAA/POSITIONSTATEMENTS/GAYANDLESBIANPARENTING/tabid/471/Default.aspx
Child Welfare League of America (1988)
The Child Welfare League of America's Standards of Excellence for Adoption Services states:
"Applicants should be assessed on the basis of their abilities to successfully parent a child needing family membership and not on their race, ethnicity or culture, income, age, marital status, religion, appearance, differing lifestyles, or sexual orientation." Further, applicants for adoption should be accepted "on the basis of an individual assessment of their capacity to understand and meet the needs of a particular available child at the point of adoption and in the future." (full text)
National Adoption Center (1998)
The Board of Directors of the National Adoption Center approved the following adoptive parent assessment policy statement on September 17, 1998:
"We believe that every child has the right to a loving, nurturing and permanent family, and that people from a variety of life experiences offer strengths for these children."
"Therefore, it is the policy of the National Adoption Center that no person should be denied consideration in the adoption process solely based on marital status, sexual orientation, lifestyle, disability, physical appearance, race, gender, age, religion and/or size of family." (full text)
National Association of Social Workers (2002)
The National Association of Social Workers approved the following policy statement at in August 2002 at the NASW Delegate Assembly:
"Legislation legitimizing second-parent adoptions in same-sex households should be supported. Legislation seeking to restrict foster care and adoption by gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender people should be vigorously opposed."
North American Council on Adoptable Children (1998)
The North American Council on Adoptable Children issued a policy statement in 1998 (amended April 14, 2002) that states:
"Children should not be denied a permanent family because of the sexual orientation of potential parents. Everyone with the potential to successfully parent a child in foster care or adoption is entitled to fair and equal consideration." (full text)
Social Science Research
The Effects of Marriage, Civil Union, and Domestic Partnership Laws on the Health and Well-being of Children, (American Academy of Pediatrics, Pediatrics: Vol. 118 No. 1 July 2006, pp. 349-364)
“There is ample evidence to show that children raised by same-gender parents fare as well as those raised by heterosexual parents. More than 25 years of research have documented that there is no relationship between parents' sexual orientation and any measure of a child's emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. These data have demonstrated no risk to children as a result of growing up in a family with 1 or more gay parents. Conscientious and nurturing adults, whether they are men or women, heterosexual or homosexual, can be excellent parents. The rights, benefits, and protections of civil marriage can further strengthen these families. “ full text: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/118/1/349
A meta-analysis of developmental outcomes for children of same-sex and heterosexual parents. Crowl, A.L., Ahn, S., & Baker, J.A. (2008). Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 4, 386-407.
Free abstract and purchase information.
Lesbian and Gay Parenting: Summary of Research Findings (Charlotte J. Patterson, American Psychological Association, 2005) http://www.apa.org/pi/parent.html
(How) Does the sexual orientation of parents matter. Stacey, J., & Biblarz, T. (2001). American Sociological Review, 66, 159-183..Full Text.
Research on Gay and Lesbian Parenting: Retrospect and Prospect. Tasker, F., & Patterson, C.J. (2007). Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 3 (2/3), 9-34. Free abstract and purchase information.
Peer relationships among adolescents with female same-sex partners. Wainright, J.L, & Patterson, C.J. (2008). Developmental Psychology, 44, 117-126. Full Text.
Psychological adjustment, school outcomes, and romantic relationships of adolescents with same-sex parents. Wainright, J.L., Russell, S.T., & Patterson, C.J. (2004). Child Development, 75, 1886-1898.
Free abstract and purchase information.
Adoption
Expanding Resources for Children: Is Adoption By Gays and Lesbians Part of the Answer for Boys and Girls Who Need Homes? (Jeanne Howard, Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, March 2006) http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/policy/2006_Expanding_Resources_for_Children.php
Technical Report: Coparent or Second-Parent Adoption by Same-Sex Parents (Ellen C. Perrin, American Academy of Pediatrics, 2002) http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/109/2/341
Adoption by Lesbians and Gays: A National Survey of Adoption Agency Policies, Practices, and Attitudes (Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute, 2003) http://www.adoptioninstitute.org/whowe/Gay%20and%20Lesbian%20Adoption1.html
Adoption and Foster Care by Gay and Lesbian Parents in the United States, By Gary J. Gates and M.V. Lee Badgett of the Williams Institute and Kate Chambers and Jennifer Macomber of the Urban Institute, March 2007
http://www.law.ucla.edu/williamsinstitute/publications/FinalAdoptionReport.pdf
Other Resources
American Academy of Pediatrics
The Effects of Marriage, Civil Union, and Domestic Partnership Laws
on the Health and Well-being of Children
PEDIATRICS Vol. 118 No. 1 July 2006, pp. 349-364 (doi:10.1542/peds.2006-1279)
“There is ample evidence to show that children raised by same-gender parents fare as well as those raised by heterosexual parents. More than 25 years of research have documented that there is no relationship between parents' sexual orientation and any measure of a child's emotional, psychosocial, and behavioral adjustment. These data have demonstrated no risk to children as a result of growing up in a family with 1 or more gay parents. Conscientious and nurturing adults, whether they are men or women, heterosexual or homosexual, can be excellent parents. The rights, benefits, and protections of civil marriage can further strengthen these families. “
Full text: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/118/1/349
Rockway Institute News Releases
Children of Lesbian Couples Are Doing Well
A study of families in the Netherlands indicates that children raised by lesbian couples “do not differ in well being or child adjustment compared with their counterparts in heterosexual-parent families.” (more)
|
About Us
