The Pros And Cons Of Same Sex Parenting

A father and mother raising their biological offspring(s) is the traditional family structure in most countries. However, the “traditional family” is no longer as common and there is a great diversity of family structures in today’s society. Single parenthood, cohabitation and same-sex parenthood are some of the nontraditional family forms. Same-sex parenting has become more common recently in countries such as the United States, partially due to the increased options for same-sex couples to become parents, such as raising a biological offspring of one of the parents, adoption, donor insemination (DI) and surrogation. The 2000 U.S. Census Bureau data reported around 63,000 same-sex couples raising children, while the 2010 Census reported 115,000 couples raising children. As the number of same-sex parents increase, there has been a controversy over whether same-sex couples can raise a child as well as heterosexual couples and whether it has a harmful influence on the child. Some question the ability of same-sex couples becoming adequate parents while those in favor of same-sex parenting argue that there are no differences between same-sex couples and heterosexual couples becoming parents. The question arises then; does the …show more content…
Before discussing these studies however, one must define some key concepts. Same-sex parenting refers to persons of the same sex raising one or more children as either biological or nonbiological parents. Children of same-sex couples can be conceived through several methods such as DI and surrogacy. Donor insemination is a method of conception where sperm from a donor who is not the woman’s mate is deposited into the uterus or inside the cervical opening. Surrogacy is when a female carries the pregnancy for intended parents. Mental health is the state of one’s psychological and emotional