A recent review entitled “Lesbian and Gay Parents and Determination of Child Custody: The Changing Legal Landscape and Implications for Policy and Practice” published in the American Association’s new journal, Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, released in March 2014, highlighted a recent gap in the law.
The gap relates to custody matters involving families with lesbian and gay parents showing that court decisions do not consider important social science research on parenting by gay and lesbian individuals.
This new review conducted by Drexel University’s joint program in psychology and law in the College of Arts and Sciences and the School of Law, highlighted research that shows that gay and lesbian individuals are as effective in parenting as heterosexuals and, further indicated that children raised by gay or lesbian parents are as well-adjusted as their peers raised by heterosexual parents.
As a mother and adoption attorney, I believe that all parents should have the same chance to raise children before the court. The recommendation in the review is very clear in that legislators and policy-makers take into account the research on gay and lesbian parenting as a guide to assist Judges when deciding custody and parental rights to ensure that such legal decisions reflect the best interests of the child standard. Researcher, Emily Haney-Caron, states that “truly our views as a society change, we want our courts to reflect that”; said Haney-Caron. “Our legal system should reflect the values and the realities that we hold.”
heARTbeat is a publication of the KingSpry Adoption/ART Law Practice Group. It is meant to be informational and does not constitute legal advice.
