Children of same-sex parents have stronger family ties, study finds

A major study of Australian children has found that those raised by same-sex parents are generally healthier and report having stronger family ties compared to children with opposite-sex parents.

University of Melbourne researchers surveyed 315 same-sex parents and 500 children in what they said was the largest study of its kind. The results: Children from same-sex households "had higher scores on measures of general behavior, general health and family cohesion compared to population normative data."

A potential explanation for the difference is that household roles are "more equitably distributed" among same-sex couples, according to lead researcher Dr. Simon Crouch. When parents "take on roles that are suited to their skill sets rather than falling into those gender stereotypes," he explained, it creates a "more harmonious family unit and therefore feeding on to better health and wellbeing."

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