Реферат: Gay Parenting Essay Research Paper Lesbian and

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