[Brenda]

Choban Choban:

Everyone is missing my original point which is, Has a study been done to determine if there are phycological downfalls to raising a child in a same sex partnership. We all got caught up in biases and rights issues.

I have been googling, but I couldn't find any real studies that focus on the kids. Maybe I searched with the wrong words, maybe it hasn't been done.

[Choban]

Hmmm, does this mean you're against in-vitro fertilization too? Guess you're not a big fan of John & Kath Plus 8 then.

Yes I am quite against it. and yes I hate attention mongering supposid "reality" tv stars that take a situation like this and use it to further their own means.

How about artificial limbs? Sperm banks? Blood banks? Organ transplants?Agriculture? (Most of the food we eat today has been selectively bred far away from its original wild plant or animal stock.)

Artificial limbs are fine, theres no connection at all. Sperm banks I'm against yes. Blood banks no, I give blood once a year, organ transplants no. Listen saving lives or improving the quality of life for someone with a disability is fine, playing God by using stem cells to make lesbian couple conceive is what I'm against. If they want children they could adopt.

What about space travel? Air travel? Anything with wheels or motors?

I didn't come down on science as a whole

Nature arranged our big brains, which in turn produced all these wonders. So I guess one could say that Nature did originate all this great stuff -with more to come!

Thats a very round about way of thinking of it, pretty much the whole state of the world could be placed at natures feet. But yes I see your point

Kudos to you for working on your biases - self-examination is the toughest work there is. Too many people don't bother.
[/quote]

Thanks, I admit I'm a bit of a neandrathal when it comes to the same sex issue

[DerbyX]

Brenda Brenda:

Choban Choban:

Everyone is missing my original point which is, Has a study been done to determine if there are phycological downfalls to raising a child in a same sex partnership. We all got caught up in biases and rights issues.

I have been googling, but I couldn't find any real studies that focus on the kids. Maybe I searched with the wrong words, maybe it hasn't been done.

http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news ... 269&k=9378

Zach's story - growing up with same sex parents.

This one is really good. It compares studies that were done.

I like this part in the summary: With the exception of studies at a few universities with very close connections with conservative Christian denominations (like the Brigham Young University in Provo, UT), essentially all research studies into same-sex parenting reveal that children of these families develop normally. There is some indication that boys are less sexually adventuresome, and that girls are more sexually daring. There are also anecdotal accounts of children having to endure ridicule, taunting and harassment from other youth because of their parents' sexual orientation.

Just a generation ago the same thing was being said about mixed-race parents. The same things were said almost word for word about the effect on children.

Its not the parenting but the atmosphere society creates around it. Children have difficulties not because they have 2 mommies or daddies but because they encounter so much fear and loathing in public that it affects their development.

[Choban]

Thanks Derby, exactly what I was looking for, now we can all get back to discussing the morals of scienc accomplishing it for same sex couples.

[DerbyX]

Choban Choban:

Thanks Derby, exactly what I was looking for, now we can all get back to discussing the morals of scienc accomplishing it for same sex couples.

It is a murky subject. Discounting any objections over same-sex parenting fooling around with human beings in this manner is a touche subject. Society has more or less come to grips with in vitro but back in the day scientists were being accused of playing god among other things.

I've always found it very hypocritical when these women using in vitro proclaim their pregnancy a miracle from god while their religions institutions were denouncing the very miracle as bad faith science.

Just wait to you start debating gene therapy. Thats a big ole can of worms even when you are discussing things you can't possibly imagine people objecting to like correcting gene defects of cystic fibrosis or huntingtons. Even then people object to the idea.

[Brenda]

That's because "it's Gods will"

[kathee]

Choban Choban:

Everyone is missing my original point which is, Has a study been done to determine if there are phycological downfalls to raising a child in a same sex partnership. We all got caught up in biases and rights issues.

Probably not - funding is tight, the subject is very politically incorrect at this moment in time (and would therefore jeopardize the researcher's AND the funder's credibility) and most important, not relevant to the issue of civil rights.

But if you really want to know, call the librarian in the social studies section of a large public library or university library and ask. Most librarians love to help answer questions from the public.

Any such studies would not be "looking for downfalls" as that would be starting with a presumption that downfalls exist to be found. Studies would look for statistically significant differences, whether positive, negative or neutral.

If you find that such studies have been done, check in here and let us know what the findings were.

It would be most interesting to see the results of a large study comparing the psychological health of children raised by opposite-sex parents to that of children raised by same-sex parents.

BTW Choban, we are not missing your point. But you don't seem to realize that your "point" is loaded with bias. To see what I mean, replace the phrase "same-sex" with any other identifiable minority (or other) group. Examples: "disabled", "Indo-Canadian","low-income", "non-Christian", "vegan". Does your question still sound reasonable to you?

Again, kudos to you for questioning your beliefs. It takes a brave soul to do that, especially in public.

[kathee]

Choban Choban:

Kudos to you for working on your biases - self-examination is the toughest work there is. Too many people don't bother.

Thanks, I admit I'm a bit of a neandrathal when it comes to the same sex issue[/quote]

Choban, you are a LONG way from "neanderthal." You seem to me like a person open to new ideas and other points of view. So what is it about the "same-sex issue" that bothers you, aside from genetic tinkering?

PS: Little known fun factoid about the Neanderthal: their brains were, on average, bigger than ours. But from the evidence they left behind, they clearly did not think in the same ways as we do.

[Choban]

kathee kathee:

Choban Choban:

Kudos to you for working on your biases - self-examination is the toughest work there is. Too many people don't bother.

Thanks, I admit I'm a bit of a neandrathal when it comes to the same sex issue

Choban, you are a LONG way from "neanderthal." You seem to me like a person open to new ideas and other points of view. So what is it about the "same-sex issue" that bothers you, aside from genetic tinkering?

PS: Little known fun factoid about the Neanderthal: their brains were, on average, bigger than ours. But from the evidence they left behind, they clearly did not think in the same ways as we do.[/quote]

Thanks for the compliments, and yes I do try to keep an open mind.
I'm not sure I can nail down one thing that bothers me about the same sex issue, lets just leave it up to family beliefs and societies outdated taboos.