New same-sex parenting research

New research by Dr Mark Regnerus, from the University of Texas, published in the Social Science Research journal, has shown that the best environment for children is to be raised by their married, biological mother and father in an intact family. Dr Regnerus interviewed 3000 young adults from ages 18-39 about their childhood and upbringing. He compared those raised by two married heterosexual parents with other family contexts - included those headed by a lesbian or homosexual.
A second study by Dr Loren Marks shows that many of the studies on same-sex parenting are biased and flawed. He notes that one major survey of the literature, for the American Psychological Association, was done by Charlotte Patterson and she omitted an important study, done by Australian Sotirios Sarantakos in 1994, which found significant differences.
Charlotte Patterson is herself a lesbian who has done some of the research...

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Differences in outcome - same-sex parents and intact biological families
The latest research on this issue was published in the Social Science Research journal in June 2012.
Mark Regnerus, from the University of Texas, conducted the research by randomly selecting 3,000 young American adults (18-39) who had been raised by lesbian or homosexual parent/s.

He measured 40 outcomes and found significant differences - the research shows that children do best when raised hy their mother and father - their two biological parents - who are married to each other. For example, on the question of whether they had been touched sexually by a parent or an adult, the response was 23% for those raised by a lesbian mother compared to just 2% for those raised in an intact biological family. On the question of ‘ever forced to have sex against their will’, it was 31% for those with a lesbian mother, and 25% for those raised by a homosexual father, compared to 8% for those raised in an intact biological family. Those raised by homosexual parents had higher rates of drug use, arrest and unemployment.

Read the full Report: How different are the adult children of parents who have same-sex relationships? Findings from the New Family Structures Study by Mark Regnerus.

Analysis of the claims made by the APA brief of same-sex parenting
A second study in the same journal, in June 2012, by Dr Loren Marks, analysed the previous studies of same-sex parenting and critiqued the claims made by the American Psychological Association (APA) report on homosexual parenting. [APA Report - online or 88 page full Report in pdf]

The APA brief claimed "Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents”. Dr Marks examined that assertion and the 59 published studies cited by the APA to support the claim. His conclusion is that "strong assertions, including those made by the APA, were not empirically warranted." He examines the small sample sizes, self-select nature, and bias in the studies. Of particular interest is the fact he notes, that one researcher, lesbian Charlotte Patterson, was the author of the APA report's "summary of research findings". Hardly independent!
Read report: Same-sex parenting and children’s outcomes: A closer examination of the American psychological association’s brief on lesbian and gay parenting