onthebeach,

Again, the snippet you've provided only seems to be talking about one study. There have been many. It's also from a conservative wingnut publication, so of course they're going to object. Worse still though, there are no citations or reference list i can use to follow up any of the other claims they've made. I'm sure there's many articles like that out the there. Without even looking, I bet James Dobson would have a lot to say on the issue. It would all be cherry-picked half-thuths of course.

This is why I only link to scholarly articles. If the reader doubts what they're being told, they can check the sources, and then their sources, and then their sources. Or save time and only read the primary studies, then work their way forward if they doubt their interpretations.

There's still some more work to be done. And if there is a difference in the outcomes for the children, it's likely very small; positive even - like the article Banjo Patterson linked to suggests. But I don't think it will be detrimental to any measurable degree. If it were, then we'd probably have noticed trends by now, like the ones we see with low socioeconomic status, postcode (social disorganisation), and marginalisation.

Foxy,

Without the biological union of a man and a woman no one can come into existence therefore that is the most important step in the formation of a family.

It's like making a cup of tea, without the boiling water and the tea leaves there is no tea.

AJ,

The penny dropped.

Is Mise,

What penny has dropped? So do you not consider adoptive patents to be real parents then? I think a lot of adopters and adoptees would have something to say about that.

Dear Is Mise,

As one society after another has industrialised over
the course of the past two centuries, there has been
a major, global change in family patterns.

What has happened is that we are increasingly tolerant of a
variety of alternative marriage and family styles.
The reasons are primarily linked to the nature of our
post-industrialised society. A hallmark of which is its
economic and cultural diversity, combined with a highly
developed sense of individualism.

In this environment, people tend to make decisions about
marriage, divorce, abortion, child-rearing, and the like
in terms of what they, personally, want - rather than in
terms of traditional moralities, obligations to kin, or
the other impersonal pressures that previous generations
unquestioningly accepted.

Pursuing their own vision of self-fulfilment, or responding
to the social and economic predicament in which they find
themselves, many people are modifying the family system to
suit their individual needs.

Significantly enough, some of the variant patterns are
being recognised, formally or informally, by such official
agencies as the Census Bureau, State and Federal
Courts, the Taxation Office, and government welfare departments.
Variants on the nuclear family are simply being taken
for granted.

Dearest Foxy,

Okay, so gay marriage.

Then the right to adopt.

Then what ?

Then what ?

Then what ?

A hundred dollars to your favourite charity if adoption is the end of it.

Love,

Joe

Dear Joe (Loudmouth),

I don't understand your point.

What are you suggesting?