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Parental Sexual Orientation, Parental Gender Identity, and the Development of Young Children

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WAIMH Handbook of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health

Abstract

Even though many lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) adults are parents, LGBTQ parenthood remains a controversial topic. Several questions have been posed. For instance, to what extent do LGBTQ adults make capable parents? Do children who have LGBTQ parents grow up in healthy ways? What factors contribute to positive family functioning in families with LGBTQ parents? Social science research has addressed these questions, and the findings suggest both that LGBTQ adults are successful in their roles as parents and that their children develop in positive ways. Overall, the findings from the research are presented here; they suggest that parental sexual orientation and gender identity do not in themselves influence success in parenting or child development. Indeed, as research findings demonstrate, sexual and gender minority parents and their children have shown remarkable resilience, even in the face of many challenges. Issues that are unique to LGBTQ parents, as well as implications of research findings for law and policy around the world, are also discussed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA

    Charlotte J. Patterson

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  1. Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry, Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Joy D. Osofsky

  2. Department of Psychology, Michigan State University, DeWitt, MI, USA

    Hiram E. Fitzgerald

  3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Bar Ilan University Azrieli Medical School, Safed, Israel

    Miri Keren

  4. Department of Child Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, Tampere, Finland

    Kaija Puura

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Patterson, C.J. (2024). Parental Sexual Orientation, Parental Gender Identity, and the Development of Young Children. In: Osofsky, J.D., Fitzgerald, H.E., Keren, M., Puura, K. (eds) WAIMH Handbook of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-48627-2_22

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