Relationships and Health 4191% of fathers stayed home to care for chil-
dren (U.S. Census Bureau, 2009b).
In this section, I examine the implica-
tions of the parent role for health—research
that is largely based on heterosexual couples.
Parenting has been a subject of controversy
in the gay and lesbian community. Some of
these issues are discussed in Sidebar 11.2.to three hours per day by 2008. Most women
say that they have primary responsibility for
childcare (67%) but 31% say that childcare is
shared. The shared figure is up from 21% in- Although the number of stay-at-home
dads has increased, the overall figure is rela-
tively low. Among married couples with chil-
dren at home, 23% of mothers and less than
SIDEBAR 11.2:Parenting Among Homosexuals
More and more children are being raised by gay and lesbian parents. It is difficult to determine
the exact number of children because it is difficult to estimate the number of gay and lesbian
people. Parents who are homosexual may also be less likely to report their sexual orientation
because they are concerned about losing custody or contact with their children. A national poll
showed that nearly half of gay men and lesbians who did not have children said that they would
like to have children (Kaiser Family Foundation, 2001).
There are two groups of homosexual parents. The first and largest group consists of homo-
sexual persons who were once married, had children, and then divorced, often due to the discov-
ery or acceptance of homosexuality. A second growing group of parents consists of homosexual
couples who choose to have children. In the case of lesbian couples, one partner may become
pregnant through the use of a sperm donor. In the case of a gay couple, the most likely avenue
is adoption. Alternatively, a lesbian and gay man may decide to have a child together. States are
mostly silent on whether gays and lesbians can adopt children. Only two states explicitly prohibit
it—Florida and Mississippi (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009b).
Issues about parenting have arisen for homosexuals that do not arise for heterosexuals.
The first issue concerns whether homosexual persons are fit to be parents. The second issue con-
cerns the effects of a parent’s homosexuality on children: effects on the children’s psychologi-
cal adjustment, gender-role development, and sexual orientation. Each of these issues has been
raised during custody disputes over whether children should be allowed to reside with a homo-
sexual parent. As you will see, there is no evidence to support any of these concerns.
Are homosexuals any less fit to be parents? Lesbian and gay men are equally good as par-
ents as heterosexuals (Goldberg, 2010). No evidence suggests that homosexual parents differ
from heterosexual parents in levels of self-esteem, psychological distress, or emotional stability
(Golombok et al., 2003; Patterson, 2000). Among people who have divorced, one advantage that
homosexual parents seem to have over heterosexual parents is that they have fewer difficulties
with their divorced partners. This means children of a homosexual parent have more contact
with both parents than children whose parents have divorced. In terms of parenting skills, one
study found that lesbian parents were better than heterosexual mothers at coming up with so-
lutions to hypothetical child difficulties (Flaks et al., 1995). Another study showed that lesbian
mothers were less likely to hit their children and more likely to engage in imaginative play with
children (Golombok et al., 2003). Few studies have compared gay fathers to heterosexual fathers;
one reason may be that custody disputes typically revolve around whether a lesbian mother
rather than a gay father is a fit parent. The woman’s sexual orientation is more in question be-
cause the norm is for women to retain custody of children.M11_HELG0185_04_SE_C11.indd 419 6/21/11 12:43 PM