Same-sex couple adoptions thrive

Adoptive families headed by same-sex couples had more similarities than differences with heterosexual couples, researchers in Britain said. Study co-author Susan Golombok, director of the Center for Family Research at the University of Cambridge, said the study involved the experiences of 130 adoptive families, their family relationships, parental well being and child adjustment. The study compared three kinds of adoptive families: 41 families headed by gay fathers, 40 families headed by lesbian mothers and 49 parents headed by heterosexual couples. "The participating families were similar in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomic status and education," Golombok said in a statement. "Overall we found markedly more similarities than differences in experiences between family types." The study involved home visits to the families, written questionnaires and recorded parent-child play sessions. All but four of the children studied were age 4-8 and all had been placed in their families for at least 12 months prior to being interviewed. All families had two parents. Responses from the same-sex parents, adopted children themselves and the children's teachers indicated bullying from peers and the children's own gender identity did not appear to be a significant problem, although the researchers, and some parents, acknowledged bullying could be a problem when the children were teenagers, the study said. The study, published by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering, found the majority of the children in the study appeared to be adjusting well to family life and to school.