Report: Children of LGB Parents Functioning 'Quite Well'

Another study released this summer shows that lesbian, gay, and bisexual parents are as effective and nurturing as heterosexual parents, if not more so.

The July report by the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law's Williams Institute indicates that LGB families deal with extra pressures such as heterosexism in various societal settings, added legal implications in states that don't allow same-sex marriage or adoption, and discrimination in medical settings. Despite these pressures, however, LGB families continue to prosper.

"The findings are consistent in suggesting that despite confronting heterosexism in a variety of social contexts -- including the health care system, the legal system, and the school system -- LGB parents and their children are functioning quite well," the report's authors write.

The study mirrors others that cite the benefits of LGB-headed families, including one released in early July from the University of Melbourne, which said children raised by same-sex couples are healthier and happier than those raised by opposite-sex pairs.

The report also points to the large portion of LGB parents -- 64 percent -- who are openly bisexual. The Williams Institute cited a 2013 Pew Research survey, which found that more than a third of all LGBT individuals report being a parent. An estimated 59 percent of bisexual women and 32 percent of bisexual men report having had children, while 31 percent of lesbians and 16 percent of gay men are parents.

Although many LGB parents are bisexual, most of the research on LGB parenting has been has been limited to specific gender, racial, and economic demographics.

"The research on LGB parenting is characterized by a variety of sampling- and methodological-related problems," the authors of the Williams Institute report wrote. "The samples that are utilized in studies of LGB parents tend to be small, white, well-educated, and financially stable, and are often drawn from metropolitan areas."