IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Same-Sex Marriage Can Be Good for Kids, Pediatricians Say

Same-sex marriage can be good for kids, pediatricians say.
Get more newsLiveon

Same-sex marriage can be good for kids, pediatricians say.

The American Academy of Pediatrics welcomed Friday’s Supreme Court decision on gay marriage and reaffirmed that any kind of marriage can be good for the children involved.

“Every child needs stable, nurturing relationships to thrive, and marriage is one way to support and recognize those relationships,” said Dr. Sandra Hassink, president of the group. “If a child has two loving and capable parents who choose to create a permanent bond, it’s in the best interest of their children that legal institutions allow them to do so.”

The Academy has a formal statement that supports a legal framework for taking care of children.

“Children may be born to, adopted by, or cared for temporarily by married couples, nonmarried couples, single parents, grandparents, or legal guardians, and any of these may be heterosexual, gay or lesbian, or of another orientation,” it says.

Scientific evidence affirms that children have similar developmental and emotional needs and receive similar parenting whether they are raised by parents of the same or different genders. If a child has two living and capable parents who choose to create a permanent bond by way of civil marriage, it is in the best interests of their child(ren) that legal and social institutions allow and support them to do so, irrespective of their sexual orientation."

A 2010 study in the in the Journal of Marriage and Family found little effect on kids if parents are the same sex.