personal development have revealed no major differences between children of lesbian versus heterosexual mothers. One
statistically significant difference in self-concept emerged in Patterson’s (1994a) study: children of lesbian mothers reported
greater symptoms of stress but also a greater overall sense of well-being than did children in a comparison group of
heterosexual families. The responses of both groups were, however, within a normal range (Patterson, 1994a). Overall, the
belief that children of gay and lesbian parents suffer deficits in personal development has no empirical foundation.
Social Relationships
Studies assessing potential differences between children of gay and lesbian versus heterosexual parents have sometimes
included assessments of children’s social relationships. The most common focus of attention has been on peer relations, but
some information on children’s relationships with adults has also been collected. Research findings that address the likelihood of
sexual abuse are also summarized in this section.
Research on peer relations among children of lesbian mothers has been reported by Golombok and her colleagues (1983),
Green (1978), and by Green and his colleagues (1986). Reports by both parents and children suggest normal development of
peer relationships. For example, as would be expected, most school-aged children reported same-sex best friends and
predominantly same-sex peer groups (Golombok et al., 1983; Green, 1978). The quality of children’s peer relations was
described, on average, in positive terms by researchers (Golombok et al., 1983) as well as by lesbian mothers and their
children (Green et al., 1986).
No data on the children of gay fathers have been reported in this area.
Studies of relationships with adults among the offspring of lesbian and gay parents have also yielded a generally positive picture
(Golombok et al., 1983; Harris & Turner, 1985/86; Kirkpatrick et al., 1981). For example, Golombok and her colleagues
(1983) found that children of divorced lesbian mothers were more likely to have had recent contact with their fathers than were
children of divorced heterosexual mothers. Another study, however, found no differences in this regard (Kirkpatrick et al.,
1981). Harris and Turner (1985/86) studied the offspring of gay fathers as well as those of lesbian mothers; parent-child
relationships were described in positive terms by parents in their sample. One significant difference between lesbian and gay
parents, on the one hand, and heterosexual parents, on the other, was that heterosexual parents were more likely to say that
their children’s visits with the other parent presented problems for them (Harris & Turner, 1985/86).
In the Golombok et al. (1983) study, children’s contacts with adult friends of their lesbian mothers were also assessed. All of
the children were reported to have contact with adult friends of their mothers, and the majority of lesbian mothers reported that
their adult friends were a mixture of homosexual and heterosexual adults.
Concerns that children of gay or lesbian parents are more likely than children of heterosexual parents to be sexually abused
have also been addressed. Results of work in this area reveal that the great majority of adults who perpetrate sexual abuse are
male; sexual abuse of children by adult women is extremely rare (Finkelhor & Russell, 1984; Jones & MacFarlane, 1980;
Sarafino, 1979). Moreover, the overwhelming majority of child sexual abuse cases involve an adult male abusing a young
female (Jenny, Roesler, & Poyer, 1994; Jones & MacFarlane, 1980). Available evidence reveals that gay men are no more
likely than heterosexual men to perpetrate child sexual abuse (Groth & Birnbaum, 1978; Jenny et al., 1994; Sarafino, 1979).
Fears that children in custody of gay or lesbian parents might be at heightened risk for sexual abuse are thus without basis in the
research literature.
Summary
Overall, then, results of research to date suggest that children of lesbian and gay parents have normal relationships with peers
and that their relationships with adults of both sexes are also satisfactory. The picture of lesbian mothers’ children that emerges
from results of existing research is thus one of general engagement in social life with peers, with fathers, and with mothers’ adult
friends–both male and female, both heterosexual and homosexual. Studies in this area to date are few, and the data emerging
from them are sketchy. On the basis of existing research findings, however, fears about children of lesbians and gay men being
sexually abused by adults, ostracized by peers, or isolated in single-sex lesbian or gay communities are unfounded.
C. Diversity Among Gay and Lesbian Families
Despite the tremendous diversity evident within gay and lesbian communities, research on differences among lesbian and gay
families with children is as yet quite sparse. One particularly important kind of heterogeneity involves the circumstances of
children’s birth or adoption. Some men and women have had children in the context of heterosexual relationships that split up
after one or both parents assumed lesbian or gay identities. Much of the existing research on lesbian mothers, gay fathers, and
their children was initiated to address concerns that arose for such families in the context of child custody disputes, and it was
often designed at least in part to examine the veracity of common stereotypes that have been voiced in legal proceedings. A
growing number of men and women have also had children after assuming lesbian or gay identities. Recently, a small body of
research (e.g., Flaks, et al., 1995; McCandlish, 1987; Patterson, 1994a, 1995a; Steckel, 1987) has begun to address issues
relevant to families of this type. Parents and children in these two kinds of families are likely to have experiences that differ from
one another in many respects.
Many issues (for example, residential versus nonresidential parenting)have yet to be addressed directly by research. In this
section, research findings on the impact of parental psychological and relationship status and on the influence of other stresses
and supports are described. One dimension of difference among gay and lesbian families concerns whether or not the custodial
parent is involved in a couple relationship, and if so what implications this may have for children. Pagelow (1980), Kirkpatrick
et al. (1981), and Golombok et al. (1983) all reported that, in their samples, divorced lesbian mothers were more likely than
divorced heterosexual mothers to be living with a romantic partner; however, none of these investigators examined connections
between this variable and children’s adjustment or development in lesbian mother families.
Huggins (1989) reported that self-esteem among daughters of lesbian mothers whose lesbian partners lived with them was
higher than that among daughters of lesbian mothers who did not live with a partner. Because of the small sample size and
absence of statistical tests, this finding should be seen as suggestive rather than conclusive. On the basis of impressions from her
own work, Kirkpatrick has also stated her view that "contrary to the fears expressed in court, children in households that
included the mother’s lesbian lover had a richer, more open and stable family life" than did those in single parent lesbian mother
households (Kirkpatrick, 1987, p. 204).
Issues related to division of family and household labor have also been studied. In families headed by lesbian couples, Patterson
(1995a) found that, although mothers did not differ in their reported involvement in household and family decision-making tasks,
biological mothers reported more time spent in child care and nonbiological mothers reported more time spent in paid
employment. In families where mothers reported sharing child care duties relatively evenly between themselves, parents were
more satisfied and children were better adjusted. Thus, equal sharing of child care duties was associated with more
advantageous outcomes both for parents and for children in this study.
Another aspect of diversity among gay and lesbian families relates to the psychological status and well-being of the parent.
Research on parent-child relations in heterosexual families has consistently revealed that children’s adjustment is often related to
indices of maternal mental health. One might therefore expect factors that enhance mental health among lesbian mothers or gay
fathers also to benefit their children. Lott-Whitehead and Tully (1993) reported considerable variability in the amounts of stress
described by lesbian mothers, but did not describe sources of stress nor their relations to child adjustment. Rand, Graham, and
Rawlings (1982) found that lesbian mothers’ sense of psychological well-being was associated with their degree of openness
about their lesbian identity with employers, ex-husbands, and children; mothers who felt more able to disclose their lesbian
identity were more likely to express a positive sense of well-being. Unfortunately, no information about the relations of these
findings to adjustment or development among children of these women has been reported to date.
Another area of great diversity among families with a gay or lesbian parent concerns the degree to which a parent’s gay or
lesbian identity is accepted by other significant people in a child’s life. Huggins (1989) found a tendency for children whose
fathers were rejecting of maternal lesbian identities to report lower self-esteem than those whose fathers were neutral or
positive. Due to small sample size and absence of significance tests, this finding should be regarded as preliminary and
suggestive rather than definitive. Huggins’ (1989) finding does, however, raise questions about the extent to which reactions of
important adults in a child’s environment can influence responses to discovery of a parent’s gay or lesbian identity.
Effects of the age at which children learn of parental homosexuality have also been a topic of study. Paul (1986) found that
offspring who were told of parental gay, lesbian, or bisexual identity either in childhood or in late adolescence found the news
easier to cope with than those who first learned of it during early to middle adolescence. Huggins (1989) also reported that
those who learned of maternal lesbianism in childhood had higher self-esteem than did those who were not informed of it until
they were adolescents. From a clinical perspective, it is widely agreed that early adolescence is a particularly difficult time for
children to learn that a father is gay or that a mother is lesbian (Bozett, 1980; Pennington, 1987; Schulenberg, 1985).
Some investigators have also raised questions about the potential role of peer support in helping children to deal with issues
raised by having a gay or lesbian parent. Lewis (1980) was the first to suggest that children’s silence on the topic of parental
sexual orientation with peers and siblings might add to their feelings of isolation from other children. All of the 11 adolescents
studied by O’Connell (1993) reported exercising selectivity about when they disclosed information about their mothers’ lesbian
identities. Paul (1986) found that 29% of his young adult respondents had never known anyone else with a gay, lesbian, or
bisexual parent, suggesting that the possibility of isolation is very real for some young people. Potentially
negative effects of any such isolation have not, however, been uncovered in research to date. Lewis (1980) suggested that
children would benefit from support groups consisting of other children of gay or lesbian parents, and young people interviewed
by O’Connell (1993) agreed, but systematic evaluations of such groups have not been reported.
In summary, research on diversity among families with gay and lesbian parents and on the potential effects of such diversity on
children is only beginning (Martin 1989; Patterson, 1992, 1995b) Existing data on children of lesbian mothers suggest that
children may fare better when mothers are in good psychological health and living with a lesbian partner with whom they share
child care. Children may find it easier to deal with issues raised by having lesbian or gay parents if they learn of parental sexual
orientation during childhood rather than during adolescence. Existing data also suggest the value of a supportive milieu, in which
parental sexual orientation is accepted by other significant adults and in which children have contact with peers in similar
circumstances. The existing data are, however, still very sparse, and any conclusions must be seen as tentative.
It is clear, however, that existing research provides no basis for believing that children’s best interests are served by family
conflict or secrecy about a parent’s gay or lesbian identity, or by requirements that a lesbian or gay parent maintain a household
separate from that of a same-sex partner.
D. Conclusion
In summary, there is no evidence to suggest that lesbians and gay men are unfit to be parents or that psychosocial development
among children of gay men or lesbians is compromised in any respect relative to that among offspring of heterosexual parents.
Not a single study has found children of gay or lesbian parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children
of heterosexual parents. Indeed, the evidence to date suggests that home environments provided by gay and lesbian parents are
as likely as those provided by heterosexual parents to support and enable children’s psychosocial growth.
It should be acknowledged that research on lesbian and gay parents and their children is still very new and
relatively scarce. Less is known about children of gay fathers than about children of lesbian mothers. Little is known about
development of the offspring of gay or lesbian parents during adolescence or adulthood. Sources of heterogeneity have yet to
be systematically investigated. Longitudinal studies that follow lesbian and gay families over time are badly needed.
Acknowledgements
I wish to thank Clinton Anderson, Natalie Eldridge, Patricia Falk, Mary Henning-Stout, Larry Kurdek, April Martin, Bianca
Cody Murphy, Vera Paster, and Roy Scrivner for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript.
II. ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
The citations in this annotated bibliography come from a number of sources: from the original APA publication Lesbian
Parents and Their Children, from a PsycLit search on gay and lesbian parenting from the years 1987-1993, and from
recommendations made by our expert reviewers. We recognize that this bibliography is not all inclusive. The literature on
lesbian and gay parenting is rapidly expanding, and we may have missed some resources. Furthermore, there are a number of
doctoral dissertations on gay and lesbian parenting. We have not included dissertations or some of the material that is written
directly for lesbian and gay parents themselves. While primarily drawing upon psychology, we did include some citations from
law, psychiatry, and social work publications.
The annotated bibliography is divided into four sections. The first section focuses on empirical psychological studies. The
second section contains book chapters and articles from the periodical literature. The third section contains books. And the
bibliography concludes with a section that lists additional resources and organizations.
This bibliography was compiled by Bianca Cody Murphy and Lourdes Rodríguez-Nogués with the assistance of Mary Ballou,
Edward J. Dunne, Susan Iasenza, Steven James, Linda Jones, Ena Vazquez Nuttall, Gary Ross Reynolds, and William
Sanchez.
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