Madri lesbiche, padri gay e il benessere dei loro figli: una rassegna della letteratura

Theoretical background: Research on parenting skills of lesbians and gay men, and studies on the well-being of their children, began over thirty years ago. At present, the scientific community can count on a large amount of empirical data. This allows us to affirm that: a) lesbians and gay men have the same parenting skills as heterosexual people; b) children raised by lesbians and gay men show positive development outcomes. Objective: This review aims to examine the most important studies regarding the quality of parenting by lesbians and gay men and the psychological adjustment of their children. It also highlights some recent controversies and report findings from methodologically more robust studies. Among important issues examined by research we will consider the dynamics and methods that lead a lesbian or a gay man to become a parent, the various kind of family, and the impact of the stigma and prejudice events on same-sex parents and their children. Methodology: We reviewed the scientific literature published until May 2013, using Medline, ProQuest Psychology Journals, PsycARTICLES, PsychINFO electronic databases and other international sources. Studies carried out under the US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) deserve of particular mention: one of its major methodological strengths is that it is a longitudinal study, the “gold standard” in developmental psychology research. Furthermore, in the U.S. NLLFS the participants were recruited before they become parents, minimizing the bias due to the recruitment of parents who already know psychological adjustment of children. Critical discussion and conclusions: The available data show that children raised by lesbian and gay parents have positive development outcomes, despite homophobic prejudices and discrimination. The children well-being does not depend on the parents’ sexual orientation but on their ability to love, to provide the necessary care and a peaceful family en tevironment. It seems that these good parenting skills manage to neutralize homophobic discrimination and victimization to which may be subject the children. Therefore, there is no reason to affirm that lesbians and gay men are not suitable as parents due to their sexual orientation, nor is there any reason to believe that parent’s sexual orientation is a factor in decisions regarding foster care or adoption. After highlighting these important issues, we made a point of analyzing the dynamics underlying the choice of becoming parents and the multiple ways in which a lesbian or a gay man can become a parent and “doing a family” (e.g., stepfamily, assisted reproductive technology, adoption, surrogacy, co-parenting). Last but not least, we will highlight the importance for mental health practitioners and researchers to learn about these issues and avoid the risk of believing in sexual prejudices.

Premesse teoriche: Le ricerche sulle competenze genitoriali delle persone gay e lesbiche e sul benessere dei loro bambini sono iniziate più di trent’anni fa. La comunità scientifica ha ora a disposizione un consistente corpus di dati empirici in base ai quali è possibile sostenere che: a) le persone gay e lesbiche hanno le stesse competenze genitoriali delle persone eterosessuali; b) gli esiti dello sviluppo dei bambini cresciuti dalle persone gay e lesbiche seguono i percorsi attesi. Obiettivo: Lo scopo di questa rassegna è analizzare le più importanti ricerche in tema di omogenitorialità, facendo luce su alcune recenti controversie e mettendo in risalto i risultati ottenuti dalle ricerche metodologicamente più robuste. Metodologia: È stata considerata la letteratura scientifica pubblicata fino al Maggio 2013, consultando le banche dati di Medline, ProQuest Psychology Journals, PsycArticles, PsychINFO e altre fonti internazionali. Discussione critica e conclusioni: I dati disponibili rivelano che i bambini cresciuti da genitori gay e lesbiche, nonostante le discriminazioni a cui sono sottoposti, seguono i percorsi di sviluppo attesi. Il benessere del bambino non dipende dall’orientamento sessuale dei genitori ma dalla loro capacità di amarlo, fornirgli le cure necessarie e un ambiente familiare sereno. Non vi sono dunque motivi per affermare che le persone gay e lesbiche siano genitori meno adeguati a causa del loro orientamento sessuale, né vi sono motivi per ritenere che l’orientamento sessuale costituisca un fattore in base al quale orientare l’affidamento o l’adozione. Saranno dunque analizzate e discusse le dinamiche e le modalità che portano una persona gay o lesbica a diventare genitore.