Does it matter if our parents are gay or straight?

| May 17, 2012

On ABC TV’s Q&A this week Senator Penny Wong was asked to justify her same-sex family. Dr Simon Crouch looks into that issue with a world-first study into the overall health and wellbeing of children of same-sex attracted parents.

Doctors for the Family have grabbed headlines this week. Promoting their submission to the Senate Inquiry into Marriage Equality they emphasise their opinion that “the evidence is clear that children who grow up in a family with a mother and a father do better in all parameters than children without.”

This is a view that lacks substance and in and of itself perpetuates a discriminatory attitude that is all too common and potentially damaging. Beyondblue, the national depression initiative, understands this and only last week launched a campaign to combat some of this discrimination, which sees around 30 per cent of Australians holding negative attitudes towards same-sex attracted people.

In fact, contrary to the commonly promulgated view that same-sex attracted parents are harming their children the limited international research suggests that in general children with same-sex attracted parents are doing pretty well. Unfortunately this work has to date been mostly limited to families with lesbian parents, has only considered aspects of mental and social wellbeing, and has had relatively few participants. It is time to capture the complete health and wellbeing of all children with same-sex attracted parents in the Australian context and to truly understand what impact that stigma and discrimination has on these families.

The Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families will for the first time determine the complete physical, mental and social wellbeing of children with same-sex attracted parents and give a voice to these children so that they have the opportunity describe their experiences in their own words. As the largest study of its kind anywhere in the world this research, which is being conducted by the Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program at the University of Melbourne, will allow same-sex attracted parents to better understand the health needs of their children and will inform policies that affect all those who come into contact with these families, such as teachers and health practitioners.

As a public health doctor leading this important research project at the VicHealth McCaughey Centre in the Melbourne School of Population Health I can see numerous benefits that our work can offer to same-sex families. Same-sex couples, single gay and lesbian parents, as well as bisexual and transgender parents, all share the same concerns that any parent does about the health and wellbeing of their children. As the current political debate swirls around marriage equality and legislated discrimination it is timely that we discover how children with same-sex attracted parents are coping with this institutionalised stigma.

In order to do this we need to hear from you. If you identify as being same-sex attracted and have children under the age of 18 years we would love for you to contact us and complete our online survey. Visit our website or send an email to admin@achess.org.au. With your help we can dispel some of the myths that groups like Doctors for the Family are promoting and offer a bright and healthy future to all children, whatever their family background.

 

Dr Simon Robert Crouch is a public health doctor and researcher at the McCaughey VicHealth Centre, Melbourne School of Population Health, the University of Melbourne. Having previously worked on both health policies and health programs as a medical officer at the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing Simon’s PhD studies are now focusing on the health and wellbeing of children with same-sex attracted parents. As lead investigator of the Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families (ACHESS) Simon is working with Professor Elizabeth Waters of the Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program and Associate Professor Ruth McNair from the Department of General Practice.
 
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