The study’s lead researcher, Dr Simon Crouch, from the Jack Brockhoff Child Health and Wellbeing Program at University of Melbourne, said children raised by same-sex parents scored 6% higher, on average, when compared with the general population on indicators of general health and family cohesion.
Mr Rodney Chiang-Cruise, a father of three boys who is in a same-sex relationship, said: “The traditional nurturing role is shared; it’s not one parent over another; the traditional bread-winning role is shared.”
The study showed that a more equitable share of chores corresponded with a harmonious household and a positive impact on children’s health.
However, despite the positive findings regarding same-sex parenting overall, the research revealed that two thirds of the children in the study experienced stigma because of having same-sex parents, highlighting the reality that societal expectations and systems still have some way to go in the acceptance and support of LGBT families.
A recording of the recent interview of Crouch and Chiang-Cruise by Rachael Brown is available on the ABC News website.
Research on Pink Families