Irrespective of their sexual orientation, parents that are more cooperative with each other experience lesser behavioral problems from their adopted child.
With the legalization of gay marriage in most countries now, child adoption will definitely rise in numbers. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and the University of Virginia conducted a study to analyze the impact of parent's sexual orientation on an adopted child's behavior.
Rachel H. Farr at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and Charlotte J. Patterson at the University of Virginia looked at families from five adoption agencies across the United States. In total, 104 families agreed to participate, 25 headed by lesbian partners, 29 by gay male partners and 50 by heterosexual couples. All families had adopted their child either as they were born or in the first few weeks. The children were approximately 3 years old during the study period.
All parents were asked to fill in details about how they divided work that involved raising their child. Researchers then observed their parenting skills through a videotaped parent-child play sessions. They found that homosexual parents were more likely to divide child-care labor equally among themselves while among heterosexual couples; mothers did more work than fathers with regards to raising their child.
"While actual divisions of childcare tasks such as feeding, dressing and taking time to play with kids were unrelated to children's adjustment, it was the parents who were most satisfied with their arrangements with each other who had children with fewer behavior problems, such as acting out or showing aggressive behavior," Farr said in a press release. "It appears that while children are not affected by how parents divide childcare tasks, it definitely does matter how harmonious the parents' relationships are with each other," she added. She and Patterson also observed differences in division of labor in lesbian and gay couples compared to heterosexual parents.
