Researchers working on the longest-running study of American lesbian families asked children of lesbian mothers if they had ever been physically or sexually abused by a parent and the answer was never in all cases.
In contrast, 26 of American teens as a whole report physical abuse by a parent or caregiver, and 8.3 percent sexual abuse.
The study authors said: "The absence of child abuse in lesbian mother families is particularly noteworthy, because victimization of children is pervasive and its consequences can be devastating. To the extent that our findings are replicated by other researchers, these reports from adolescents with lesbian mothers have implications for healthcare professionals, policymakers, social service agencies, and child protection experts who seek family models in which violence does not occur."
Of course you have to keep in mind that the sample size was small. Researchers interviewed only 78 children, and participants volunteered to be in the study. Researchers asked the 17-year-old sons and daughters of lesbian mothers about their sexual abuse, sexual orientation, and sexual behavior.
The study was conducted by Nanette Gartrell, M.D., Henny Bos, Ph.D. (University of Amsterdam), and Naomi Goldberg, M.P.P. (Williams Institute). Principal investigator Nanette Gartrell, M.D., is a 2010 Williams Distinguished Scholar, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at UCSF, and affiliated with the University of Amsterdam.
Perhaps the study would be better titled, "Preconceived Conclusions Seeking Research Support" or "Activism Masquerading as Science: A Study Suitable for Scrutiny by Beginning Graduate Students."
The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) published by American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) offers the following conclusion: "Adolescents who have been reared in lesbian-mother families since birth demonstrate healthy psychological adjustment (p. 28)."
Authors Gartrell and Bos generalize their findings to the lesbian population at large, claiming their research offers "implications for... same-sex parenting" (p. 28). Making an enormous scientific leap, they conclude that their study provides scientific proof that there is "no justification for restricting access to reproductive technologies or child custody on the basis of the sexual orientation of the parents" (p. 34-35).
Implied, though not stated, is the notion that fathers are not necessary or important for the healthy development of children. This implication is a throwback to an article published in the American Psychologist in 1999 titled "Deconstructing the Essential Father." Like the authors of the American Psychologist article, Gartrell and Bos are on record as activists seeking public support for homosexual parenting.
The problems inherent in any self-report study. The lesbian mothers' own reports that their children were well-adjusted were accepted by the study's authors uncritically. The authors should have clarified the limitation and usefulness of such qualitative, self-reported data in light of the fact that the lesbian parents knew that the study would be used to further their political cause; in contrast, the control group had no idea how their reports would be used. In addition, most mothers, lesbian or not, would likely report their children's adjustment in a favorable light. Outside observers such as the child's teachers or counselors, if consulted, could have offered a different perspective.
