Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Parented Families

Prepared for the Australian Psychological Society by Elizabeth Short, Damien W. Riggs, Amaryll Perlesz, Rhonda Brown & Graeme Kane

Overview

This review provides an overview and summary of the main bodies of research about parenting by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)1 people, as well as relevant information about the wider family studies field within which this research is situated, and background information on the Australian context. This review will assist psychologists to provide effective and appropriate services to people in such families. The review will also assist psychologists in contributing, where appropriate, to public debates in relation to legal and public policy reform of the type that has occurred extensively over the last five years in Australia (for example, about which family relationships should be recognised in law, and who should be able to access fertility services or adopt children), and which can be expected to continue into the future. Given the importance of psychologists promoting accurate understandings of scientific research, a primary focus of this review is the role that psychological research can play in such debates, and the contribution of psychologists to promoting well-being for children, parents, families
and the general community.

As detailed in this review, the family studies literature indicates that it is family processes (such as the quality of parenting and relationships within the family) that contribute to determining children's well-being and 'outcomes', rather than family structures, per se, such as the number, gender, sexuality and co-habitation status of parents. The research indicates that parenting practices and children's outcomes in families parented by lesbian and gay parents are likely to be at least as favourable as those in families of heterosexual parents, despite the reality that considerable legal discrimination and inequity remain significant challenges for these families. The Australian Psychological Society (APS) is committed to contributing the knowledge of psychology in the public interest, and to fostering a social environment in which all children and their families experience support, recognition, and are valued, and in which discrimination and prejudice have no place.

[Link: Original Document]

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Update - Centrelink recognises same-sex relationships from 1 July 2009

The Australian Government passed wide-ranging reforms that recognise all couples, regardless of the sexual orientation gender of partners.

From 1 July 2009 changes to legislation will mean that customers who are in a same-sex de facto relationship will be recognised as partnered for Centrelink purposes. All customers who are assessed as being a member of a couple will have their rate of payment calculated in the same way.

Questions and answers:

* Who will be affected by these changes?
* When will the changes be implemented?
* What do I have to do?
* How could my payment change?
* What else should I know?
* More information
* Factsheets and publications
* Other government changes
* Can I be sure that my relationship status will remain private?
* Reviews and appeals
* Case studies
* Useful links

To find out more click here.

[Link: Source Document]

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MCV - "Gay dads seek surrogacy rights" by Rachel Cook

A proposal that seeks to align state and federal surrogacy laws has been released for public consultation and submissions.

The paper titled, A Proposal for a National Model to harmonise regulation of Surrogacy was released by the National Standing Committee of Attorney Generals (SCAG) and the ministerial councils for Community Services and Health. GLBT activists have welcomed the move.

Corey Irlam, spokesperson for the Australian Coalition for Equality told MCV:

“We are cautiously optimistic that this provides an opportunity for the states to become equal and to update their laws to access surrogacy.

“Surrogacy is a state-based issue and the federal government has said they will acknowledge any state based surrogacy laws,” Irlam said.

The paper makes several recommendations that would benefit same-sex and heterosexual couples.

If the recommendations were successful, both partners in a gay male couple would be recognised as parents of the child.

Currently in Victoria, the non-biological partner in a gay couple is not seen as a legal parent.

“Without the ability for the non-biological parent to adopt as a second parent, gay men who are entering into a surrogacy arrangement will be unable to both be seen as the legal parents of the child,” Irlam said.

“The Victorian Law Reform Commission recommended that adoption would be addressed and the government have not acted upon this.”

Currently, the non-biological parent in a gay male couple has to apply for a parenting order from the Family Court to have any legal parenting rights.

Co-moderator of Gay Dads Australia Rodney Cruise told MCV parenting orders give non-biological fathers most of the rights as a parent.

“He can apply for a passport for the child, enrol the child in school and make medical decisions. It’s still not a full parent situation, but it’s the closest thing we have in Victoria.”

Cruise said lesbian couples have long been accessing parenting orders and gay men are following in their footsteps.

“Gay dads are exercising the same process and have had success, there has been no problems getting them.”

However, Cruise warned that obtaining a parenting order is an expensive course of action.

“It involves lawyers and that can be a costly process, whereas the Holy Grail for gay dads is what’s called second parent adoption, which would allow the non-biological father to adopt their partner’s biological child and become a full parent.

“With second parent adoption you are a parent for life, unlike a parenting order which only lasts till the child is 18. So this impacts on inheritance and other issues too.”

In December 2008 the Assisted Reproductive Treatment (ART) Bill narrowly passed. Part of the legislative reform will secure the non-biological parent in a lesbian couple to now be recognised as a legal parent.

“There was a recognition that we had to get lesbian families over the line first,” Cruise said.

“Without that parliament would not have considered two men as parents.

“The next logical step is for the community and government to get their head around gay males.”

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClellend said the laws should make it easier for surrogacy couples.

“The differing laws on this complex and sensitive issue often force prospective parents to enter another Australian state or territory to have surrogate children.” McClellend said.

[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Star Observer - "What is a Dad?" by John Meyer

I joined Gay Dads NSW a week or so ago and have found another land of similarity to feel like home in.

What piqued my interest from their website was a survey asking 421 men their background interest in joining the group. The top three responses were: 31 percent have children from a previous relationship (that’s me), 35 percent were interested in exploring their options in being parents and 11 percent were surrogates.

So I sent the group an email introducing myself and received a few responses from men in the same boat. Just to see the words in front of me to made me feel included and part of a group. I even found a response from another dad in the same company I work in.

There are social nights to attend, afternoons in children’s parks, zoo trips and I’m sure the odd bbq. Meeting people with young children like my two mini men will be a long sought-after dream.

Sometimes you forget how tough it is without comparing notes with someone — someone in the same size shoe.

My Troppo playmate has children, three of them, all grown up. Comparing notes sometimes is difficult because of the age gap. Fact is, I’m nearly closer to his daughter’s age than to his.

Last weekend, we took his youngest son and his girlfriend out for dinner in Newtown. We clasped fingers as we strolled down King St and noticed some shiny rings in a shop window. We skipped in and minced around for nearly half an hour trying on the most ridiculous rings.

I don’t know how the kids felt watching dad and his mate trying gawdy rings on, but it was so funny and in the end, they joined in too.

I looked up ‘dad’ in the little Oxford Dictionary I have on my desk and it led me to ‘father’ and then to ‘parent’. In the circle of words it allows for born offspring and otherwise, adopted, surrogates et al.

In my book, a dad is a man who is blessed and tasked with a precious person to raise, love, guide and every now and then embarrass by trying on costume jewellery after dinner.
[Link: Original Article]

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The Age - "Warning to couples on Indian surrogacy laws" by Matt Wade

LAWYERS and doctors involved in India's giant fertility industry have warned couples hoping to pursue surrogacy in India that the process is risky because there is no comprehensive law covering the practice.

While surrogacy is legal in India, it is regulated only by guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research, and many industry participants say these guidelines have been left behind by the rapidly expanding surrogacy industry.

The Age reported on Saturday that about 30 Australian couples were pursuing surrogacy in India. A new Indian surrogacy law is being drafted but those involved say it may not be passed for some time.

Priya Hingorani, a prominent Delhi lawyer who is part of a ministerial committee reviewing the proposed laws, says the absence of a law means couples wanting to use surrogates in India might be vulnerable.

"They are taking a risk because some of the documents that they sign ensuring that the mother will hand over the child might not be deemed legal by the courts," Ms Hingorani said. "They need to be very careful."

She cites the case of a Canadian couple who paid for an Indian surrogate but the mother refused to give up the child after the birth. The case is now before a Delhi court.

Anand Kumar, who runs a fertility clinic and is a member of the expert committee drafting the new law, said tighter regulations were urgently needed.

"It's a bit of a free-for-all at the moment and everyone seems to be doing what they wish," Dr Kumar said.

"There is a possibility of new technologies being misused and there is cause for concern." He could not say when the proposed law would be passed.

Many women's groups in India have expressed concern about the surrogacy system, saying it leaves mothers and babies vulnerable to exploitation.

Ms Hingorani said it was possible the new law could introduce restrictions that might affect foreigners hoping to use surrogate mothers in India.

"I think it is going to be more difficult (after the law is passed)," she said.

India's booming surrogacy industry is estimated to be worth more than $500 million a year.

According to the National Commission for Women, there are about 3000 clinics offering surrogacy services across India.

There were cases where surrogate mothers received as little as 25,000 rupees ($A780), the commission said.

Some of the potential complications associated with international surrogacy were highlighted last year by the case of Baby Manji, a child born to an Indian surrogate mother hired by a Japanese couple.

The couple divorced during the pregnancy and a subsequent legal wrangle left the baby in limbo for more than a month. An Indian court eventually granted custody to the child's 74-year-old grandmother.

In Australia, the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General is reviewing surrogacy regulations, including the issue of Australian couples pursuing surrogacy in developing countries such as India.

[Link: Original Article]

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Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog - "NZ Surrogate Required to Pay Child Support" by Stephen Page

What is shown time and time again is that in the surrogacy debate the law is way behind what is happening in people's lives.

Fairfax reports that a gay Queensland couple applied to the Federal government for benefits, including presumably the baby bonus. The only problem was that their child was born via a surrogate in New Zealand. Because the father is receiving Centrelink, and can identify the mother, the Child Support Agency has written to her demanding that she pay child support. The birth mother is still liable to pay, because while surrogacy is not illegal in New Zealand, unlike Queensland, there has not been an adoption.

This case is yet another example of the need for people to get good legal advice before seeking surrogacy arrangements, or IVF arrangements that are not through a clinic.

It would also appear that the gay couple, who presumably are usually Queensland residents, have committed offences in Queensland under the Surrogate Parenthood Act 1988. This is because they entered into a surrogacy arrangement. Where that arrangement happened is irrelevant in the eyes of Queensland law.

[Link: Original Article]

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GayNZ.com - "NZ surrogate's Aussie child support row"

The Australian Government is demanding a Kiwi surrogate mother pay child support for the baby girl she had for a gay couple in Queensland, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Child support: NZ surrogates may be forced to pay Aussie child support

The one-year-old is being raised by her legal guardians - her biological father and his male partner. They gained child support benefits for the father to stay at home and care for her, but the authorities asked the surrogate to contribute, which she refused to do.

The case highlights legal difficulties around surrogacy, which is outlawed in Queensland and some other parts of Australia, but allowed in New Zealand.

Family law expert Professor Mark Henaghan at Otago University confirms that surrogates can be forced to pay Australian child support if their babies were not legally adopted and the intended parents claimed benefits.

"It's a blanket rule. The circumstances are irrelevant. If you are a parent, unless someone adopts a child, you are the legal parent," he explains.

Gay male couples are unable to adopt in New Zealand and in most of Australia, which means the surrogate mother's name remains on birth certificates, preventing them from signing away legal rights to the child.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Star-Times has spoken to another Kiwi woman who will soon give birth to a child for a gay male Australian couple.

The 35-year-old Aucklander admitted she'd had some negative remarks from people, but is happy with her choice: "My father's a bit reluctant I'm having a baby for a gay couple. I didn't choose a gay couple, but I had to find the right couple and they were the ones for me."

[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Morning Herald - "Surrogates told to pay support" by Deidre Mussen

THE Australian Government is demanding a New Zealand surrogate mother pay child support for the baby she had for two gay Queensland men, amid accusations she abandoned it.

Her case has raised fears of financial clawbacks for other New Zealand surrogates, including an Auckland woman who is eight-months pregnant with a son to another gay Australian couple.

"She's told the couple they have to sort it out as there's no way she's paying," said the second surrogate, who declined to be named.

"The deal with them is 'You guys sort out the legal stuff and the financial stuff.' I hope this doesn't happen to me but the boys will sort it out. It gets complicated with the guy thing."

It is understood the one-year-old surrogate baby girl is being raised by the baby's biological father and his male partner in Queensland, who are her legal guardians. They gained child support benefits for the father to stay home and care for her, as new parents are entitled to. However, authorities asked the surrogate to contribute, which she refused to do.

Unlike in New Zealand, surrogacy is illegal in Queensland and many parts of Australia.

Australian funding agencies Centrelink and the Child Support Agency confirmed they were likely to seek maintenance payments from a birth mother in New Zealand if the Australian birth father claimed benefits as a sole parent caring for their baby.

Family law expert Professor Mark Henaghan, dean of law at Otago University, said surrogates could be forced to pay child support on either side of the Tasman if their babies were not adopted and the intended parents claimed benefits. Gay male couples were unable to adopt in New Zealand and in most of Australia, which meant the surrogate mother's name remained on birth certificates and prevented her signing away legal rights to the child, he said. Guardianship was insufficient to remove the birth mother's legal duties.

"You can't contract out of child support," Professor Henaghan said.

"It's a blanket rule. The circumstances are irrelevant. If you are a parent, unless someone adopts a child, you are the legal parent."

According to the co-owner of the nz-surrogacy.com website, Amanda MacLeod, adoption occurred in about half the surrogacies in New Zealand and guardianship arrangements covered the rest. "As if surrogacy isn't hard enough, the only choice you've got as a gay couple is to have surrogacy. There's only one sort of box you have to fit into," she said.

Under New Zealand's 1955 Adoption Act, only married and single people are allowed to adopt. A single person can adopt regardless of sexual orientation but a single man is banned from adopting a girl unless under specific circumstances.

Professor Henaghan, a member of an adoption reform group which has lobbied for same-sex adoption and other adoption law changes, knew of only one case of a single gay man adopting a child in New Zealand and none trying to adopt a surrogate child. The act appeared to allow gay men to adopt a surrogate child, he said.

In September 2007, the New Zealand Family Court allowed an uncle to adopt his two-year-old nephew, whom he had raised since birth. At the time, the judge said it was the first case of a gay single man adopting.

[Link: Original Article]

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Sunday Star Times - "Gay couple will be loving parents, says mum"

AN AUCKLAND woman soon to give birth to a surrogate baby for two gay Australian men is excited to help a loving couple become parents, regardless of their gender.

"One of the nicest things was I've had a letter in the mail from [the biological father's] mother telling me how loved this child will be and how they can't put into words what I've done for their family."

The 35-year-old single mum has a 10-year-old son to a former relationship and has been keen since then to have a baby for a couple unable to have their own children.

"I think some people can do it and some can't."

After failing to find anyone needing a surrogate among friends and family, she googled the subject and found the New Zealand surrogacy website, nz-surrogacy.com, where surrogates and intended parents could meet online.

She talked to several heterosexual New Zealand couples about being their surrogate but nothing worked out.

Eventually, she was asked if she'd consider being a surrogate for a gay couple from Sydney.
"I'd always preferred a heterosexual New Zealand couple." However, they spoke on the phone and immediately clicked with the mother.

"I think we've got similar philosophies and backgrounds. They were right I just knew."
While surrogacy laws are under review in Australia, it is illegal in many states, unlike in New Zealand. The couple had considered using a surrogate in America, where commercial surrogacy is legal, if they couldn't find one closer to home.

One of the men is the biological father and came to New Zealand three times last year, using artificial insemination with a syringe to impregnate her.

She admits it is more complicated being a surrogate for gay men and has had some negative remarks from people, but is happy with her choice.

"My father's a bit reluctant I'm having a baby for a gay couple. I didn't choose a gay couple, but I had to find the right couple and they were the ones for me.

"It's been good for [my son] to spend time with the boys too. He loves them to pieces."

The couple, both first-time dads, have read up about gay parenting and plan to maintain contact after the baby's handed over.

They have booked to come to New Zealand in about two weeks' time, 10 days before her due date, in case she delivered early, "but they think they can get here within seven hours if it happens sooner".
They will stay at a private Auckland birthing unit for the birth, and the surrogate plans to hand over care immediately after the birth.

The fathers will spend the following few weeks in a serviced apartment with their son while guardianship and other legal matters are finalised in court so they can take him home to Australia.
"I sign over day-to-day parenting rights but in the eyes of the law a mother can never sign over their rights, which is hard for [the fathers]."

One of her conditions is no day care.

"I can't see the point of having a baby for people then it's just put in daycare."

The baby boy's father plans to take three months' leave from his nursing job to care for their newborn but later will return to shift work. However, the baby will be almost entirely cared for by either dad after that, apart from one day a week when his grandmother will look after him.

Seeing the excitement of impending parenthood has given the Auckland surrogate great pleasure.
Photographs of their son's bedroom in Sydney show it beautifully decked out, ready for the new arrival.

However, she knows finally handing over her surrogate son will be tough.

"I know there will be hormones and possibly tears. I know the hardest will be when they go back to Australia."

But she and her 10-year-old son hope to visit the couple and baby in Australia about three months after the birth.

And the couple have mentioned hopes of her having a sibling for their son, which she is considering.

[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Morning Herald - "$12 for bootees, $5 for bib, $30,000 for a baby" by Kate Benson

TREVOR ELWELL and Peter West know they are in for an anguished wait, pacing the floor outside a Mumbai maternity ward as they listen to the cries of the mother of their children.

The couple have never met the woman bearing their twins or the donor who provided the eggs. They will not be allowed to attend the birth or meet any of their children's family, but minutes after their newborns take their first breaths, they will be handed to the men - to be whisked away to a life in suburban Melbourne.

Mr Elwell and Mr West, both 40, are among the first Australians to pay an Indian woman to carry their children. So far, about 30 couples are pursuing surrogacy in India, including three who will fly to Mumbai next month to start treatment. Five are expecting children, including Mr Elwell and Mr West, but so far no Australian babies have been born.

Commercial surrogacy has been legal in India since 2002, but has been attracting more Australians since the falling exchange rate pushed the cost of buying a baby from the US to more than $300,000 last year.

A baby carried by an Indian surrogate can be bought for as little as $30,000, plus an extra $10,000 if the couple want to use a Caucasian egg donor, usually flown in from South Africa.

Surrogates are housed together with access to doctors, nurses, maids and social workers during their pregnancy and can earn up to 10 times their annual income by carrying a baby.

It is fast becoming big business in India as a viable industry rather than a rare fertility treatment, but Australian supporters are adamant the scheme does not exploit the country's poor.

"These are not slum-dwellers," says Megan Sainsbury, a spokeswoman for Australia India Surrogacy Advocates. "They are middle-class women who have the approval and support of their families. They are not being forced into it."

The Standing Committee of Attorneys-General last week called for submissions regarding changes to altruistic surrogacy law in Australia. Its discussion paper included points on international surrogacy that could make it impossible for people like Mr Elwell and Mr West to add to their family.

It suggests surrogates must live in the same jurisdiction as the intended parents or the parents will not be granted custody, and laws should "preclude exploitative arrangements" with Third World surrogates.

"None of us would ever exploit a person from a Third World country," Ms Sainsbury said. "We are furious about this. India has some of the strictest regulations regarding psychological testing in the world for surrogates and potential parents. They do not accept people who are purely in it for the money or those who want to exploit someone less fortunate than themselves."

The first Australian baby is due in March to a couple living in Beijing. Mr Elwell and Mr West's twins are due in May.

"We've thought long and hard about this and have put everything in place to make sure we can give these children everything they need - including plenty of girlfriends who are cat-fighting over who will be godmother," Mr Elwell said.

Only the genetic father's name will appear on the birth certificate. "But we're a family unit and that's all that matters. Our children will know where they came from and who their father is when they are old enough to understand and we are determined to include their Indian heritage in their upbringing. My mother is already planning a mural of an Indian elephant for their room."

[Link: Original Article]

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Sydney Morning Herald - "National surrogacy scheme moves forward" by AAP

A move to harmonise state and commonwealth surrogate parenting laws is a step closer with the release of a national proposal for public consultation.

The national Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) and the ministerial councils for Community Services and Health released a paper on Sunday calling for submissions on national surrogacy regulation.

The paper, A proposal for a National Model to Harmonise Regulation of Surrogacy, makes a number of recommendations that would aid hetero and same-sex couples.

People who use a surrogate mother would be able to apply for legal recognition as the child's parents and the differing state laws that affect same-sex surrogacy would be addressed.

Other regulations under review would include paying a surrogate mother's medical costs, financial losses during and other expenses during pregnancy.

But commercial surrogacy would remain illegal in Australia, the paper recommends.

Other topics proposed include counselling and legal advice for all parties involved and if advertising would be allowed by couples, surrogate mothers and clinics involved in surrogacy.

Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland said the laws should makes it easier for surrogacy couples.

"The differing laws on this complex and sensitive issue often force prospective parents to enter another Australian state or territory to have surrogate children," Mr McClelland said in a statement.

States and territories launched their own reviews last year with the intent of moving to a national regime.

NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos said couples with surrogate children had faced challenges with accomplishing a number of basic processes related to a child's upbringing.

"Laws in some jurisdictions make it difficult for parents to obtain a passport or a school enrolment for children born through surrogacy," Mr Hatzistergos said in a statement.

NSW Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell supports a national regime but said the best home environment for children is with a mother and a father.

"I think all those issues need to be the subject of the inquiry (and) need to be the subject of community debate," M O'Farrell told reporters in Sydney.

"But my view remains that children are best brought up in heterosexual households.

People interested in reviewing the paper can visit www.scag.org.au and click on "Current consultations".

Information about how to make a submission is contained on page two of the document.

The deadline to make a submission is April 16.

A copy of the Paper (A PROPOSAL FOR A NATIONAL MODEL TO HARMONISE REGULATION OF SURROGACY - January 2009) can be found here.

[Link: Original Article]

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The Sunday Mail - "Suggorate mums could be paid $10,000 cash under radical changes to laws" by Linda Silmalis and Kay Dibben

MOTHERS could be paid up to $10,000 to give birth to another woman's child under radical changes to controversial surrogacy laws.

Commercial surrogacy is illegal but state governments will consider allowing women to be reimbursed by parents for the medical costs, and up to two months' loss of earnings.

The man behind the proposal, NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos, said existing laws made it difficult for parents to get a passport for surrogate children, or to enrol them in school, The Sunday Mail reports.

"If the national model is adopted, courts could grant a parentage order to a couple if it was in the best interests of the child, and the surrogate mother had given her informed consent," he said.

A discussion paper, prepared by the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General, will be released today in a bid to introduce a uniform law.

It questions whether a same-sex couple could become the legal parents of a child, and whether surrogate mothers must be over 25 years of age and have previously given birth.

It also will consider whether intending parents must have a criminal background check.

Other potential changes include having the names of the intended parents on a second birth certificate.

The original birth certificate would still exist, and the child would be entitled to both records at a certain age.

Courts would be given the final say on whether a couple should be granted the legal right to be a child's parents.

In Queensland, altruistic surrogacy – where a woman bears a child for a couple without receiving payment – could be decriminalised this year.

A parliamentary committee in October recommended that surrogacy not involving payments or gifts be made legal.

If the State Government adopts its recommendations, an independent surrogacy review panel, including medical and legal experts, will be appointed to approve applications.

Committee chairwoman Linda Lavarch said couples were being driven overseas and families were being turned into criminals under the existing law.

[Link: Original Article]

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Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog - "Surrogate mothers Could be paid upto $10,000" by Stephen Page

Stephen Page of the Australian Gay and Lesbian Law Blog is reporting that Surrogate mothers Could be paid upto $10,000.

"Mothers could be paid up to $10,000 to give birth to another woman's child under proposed changes to surrogacy laws, according to Brisbane's Sunday Mail. State governments will consider allowing women to be reimbursed by parents for the medical costs, and up to two months' loss of earnings, according to the report".

[Link: Original Article]

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MCV - "Study gives thumbs up to lesbian moms"

Lesbian parents raise happy, healthy children, according to 22-year American study.

The longest-running study into lesbian parents in the US has found discrimination, not the sexual orientation of parents, harms children, the UK’s Pink News reports.

The USA National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS), based in San Francisco, has been following planned lesbian families with children conceived by donor insemination since 1986.

Data recently released is based on interviews conducted when the children were 10 years old.

The NLLFS confirms the findings of over 40 other studies on the children of lesbian and gay parents, and supports the positions of all major professional associations on the well-being of children growing up in lesbian and gay families.

The NLLFS finds that although the parents’ sexual orientation doesn’t harm children, discrimination does; the researchers report that the adverse effects of discrimination were significantly reduced when the parents, schools and communities encouraged an appreciation of diversity.

"The findings of our research conclude that children raised in lesbian parent households are healthy, happy, and high-functioning," said researcher Dr Nanette Gartrell, associate clinical professor of psychiatry at the Center of Excellence in Women's Health for the University of California, San Francisco.

"The parents created healthy, loving and safe environments where their children were able to grow and thrive.

“Even the negative effects of homophobia were largely mitigated when their parents were active participants in the lesbian community and when the children attended schools that taught an appreciation of diversity."

[Link: Original Article]

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