Children of lesbian and gay parents: A review of the literature

The purpose of this paper is to review the research literature concerning t he development of children with gay and lesbian parents. It begins by discu ssing some of the social, theoretical, and legal implications of studying t his population, and critiques a number of the assumptions guiding this rese arch. The review then proceeds to include studies on children of divorced l esbian and gay parents, as well as studies conducted on children of gay and lesbian families that are planned. The body of literature generally conclu des that children with lesbian and gay parents are developing psychological ly, intellectually, behaviorally, and emotionally in positive directions, a nd that the sexual orientation of parents is not an effective or important predictor of successful child development. The paper also includes a discus sion of the limitations of these studies, provides suggestions for future r esearch, and discusses the challenge these families pose for the meaning an d definition of family.