Study: Gays and Lesbians Make Great Parents

A study conducted by Cambridge University concluded that gay British parents are just as good as heterosexual parents.

The report, released by the British Association of Adoption and Fostering on March 4, chronicles the experiences of 130 families with adopted children. Of those, 49 are heterosexual couples, and 41 are gay and lesbian couples.

"Overall we found markedly more similarities than differences in experiences between family types," professor Susan Golombok, director of the Centre for Family Research and co-author of the report, told the Gay Star News.

In an interview with The Independent, Golombok added that gay men are particularly good at parenting because they are less likely to have depression, anxiety, stress and relationship problems while coping with parenthood.

"The anxieties about the potentially negative effects for children of being placed with gay fathers seem to be, from our study, unfounded," she said.

Given the results of the study, Sir Martin Narey, a UK government adoption advisor, is encouraging more LGBT people to consider fostering and adoption.

"I have seen how LGBT people, who tend to come to adoption or fostering as their first choice for becoming parents, bring a particular determination and enthusiasm to it,' he said.

"They find themselves parenting some of our most damaged children, do so with overwhelming success, and many more gay adopters need to be encouraged to come forward."