Parenting studies are propaganda

Patricia Morgan says the research methods used
in studies of homosexual parenting are so flawed that they prove
nothing.

Now that homosexuals are laying claim to
reproductive “rights” and having children by artificial
insemination, adoption or surrogacy, lobby groups insist that
homosexual parenting is as good as, or better than, heterosexual
parenting.

Out of respect and support for homosexuals,
the most extravagant claims are taken at face value, but research
methods are so flawed that they prove little or nothing. There are
failures to design studies properly, to measure the relevant
variables or to use proper statistical tests.

In most studies, the subjects are
self-selected volunteers. Studies based on random, representative
samples are missing. Hardly any are properly controlled. Factors
that might influence the results are not screened out. Control or
comparison groups are often missing. If used, children of divorced
lesbians tend to be compared with children of lone heterosexual
mothers.

Although claims about the worth of homosexual
parenting usually refer to “gay fathers” alongside lesbian mothers,
there are no comparative studies of children raised in male
homosexual households. One study headlined “Gay men make better
fathers” included 14 per cent “donor dads” and 8 per cent “social
dads” whose relationship to any child is unknown. Eleven per cent
were “wannabes” and not fathers at all.

Gushing personal accounts are often the
foremost evidence presented. Such anecdotes are reverentially
accepted by public bodies and academics who would laugh at the use
of such material as evidence elsewhere.

Some studies disregard their own results to
reach their conclusions. Despite repeated assertions to the
contrary, there are indications of differences between homosexual
and heterosexual parenting outcomes, particularly the likelihood of
children becoming homosexuals themselves.

Cause-driven enterprises promote propaganda,
not scientific truths. It is a problem for science when some
findings are more politically correct than others and are used to
back proposals that affect children and society. Laymen have to
take research findings on trust. The same cannot be said about the
craven acquiescence of officials, researchers and professionals who
prefer not to offend the sensibilities of activists.

If public policy is based on clear research,
there is no case for changing the adoption law to allow same-sex
couples or unmarried couples to be able to adopt children.

Patricia Morgan is a sociologist and
author of Children as Trophies? Examining the Evidence
on Same-Sex Parenting
for the Christian Institute
.

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