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Study Finds Children of Same-Sex Parents Are Better Off Than Peers

Study Finds Children of Same-Sex Parents Are Better Off Than Peers

Nph

Same-sex families raise happier, healthier kids, according to an Australian study

Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka with their children Harper and Gideon | Photo: Getty

Two is better than one, even when it comes to moms and dads.

A study out of Australia, one of the largest of its kind, surveyed 315 parents--mostly lesbians--which represented 500 children, and measured things like general behavior, general health, and family cohesion against data from the general population.

Results showed that children from same-sex families scored an average of six percent higher in the general health and family cohesion categories, and were on par with children outside the study in categories like emotional behavior and physical functioning.

Simon Crouch, a researcher at the Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program at the University of Melbourne, and the lead researcher for the study, wrote for The Conversation that, though children with same-sex parents scored better in a number of categories, stigma was still a problem.

"Around two-thirds of children with same-sex parents experienced some form of stigma due to their parents' sexual orientation which, of course, impacts on their mental and emotional well-being," he said, "Instead of criticizing these loving family units perhaps it is time to see what we can learn from them - for the benefit of all our children."

More information on the study can be found here.

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