{"id":61746,"date":"2025-10-21T21:18:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/?p=61746"},"modified":"2025-10-21T21:18:51","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T19:18:51","slug":"new-evidence-finds-no-benefits-to-same-sex-parenting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/10\/21\/new-evidence-finds-no-benefits-to-same-sex-parenting\/","title":{"rendered":"New Evidence Finds No Benefits to Same-Sex Parenting"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"same-sex<\/p>\n

Cornell University<\/strong> has re-examined sociologist Mark Regnerus\u2019s study<\/strong> on the challenges faced by children of same-sex couples. The findings show that no positive<\/strong> outcomes emerged<\/i>.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

A rigorous academic study from Cornell University<\/strong> has been released, yet nobody is talking about it.<\/p>\n

Published by Cambridge University Press, the research seriously re-examined<\/strong> a previous 2012 study that sparked an international uproar.<\/p>\n

This concerns the investigation carried out by sociologist Mark Regnerus<\/strong> (University of Texas) on a national US sample of over 15,000 young adults<\/strong> whose mothers or fathers had had same-sex relationships.<\/p>\n

It was the largest nationally representative random sample and, for the first time, directly questioned the grown-up children themselves<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Mark Regnerus\u2019 Study on Same-Sex Parenting<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

The results showed<\/a><\/em><\/strong> that these young people, compared to those raised in natural families, had worse outcomes<\/strong> in several areas: academic achievement, employment status, mental health, substance use, and even higher rates of incarceration, depression, and involvement with public assistance.<\/p>\n

The study was immediately opposed<\/strong> by LGBTQ+ organizations and also by several academics who raised methodological limitations.<\/p>\n

Media pressure led the University of Texas<\/strong> to open an internal review of the study, which concluded<\/a><\/em><\/strong> with a denial of scientific misconduct. However, this was not enough to quell the controversy.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

No Evidence Supporting Same-Sex Parenting<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Fast forward to a few months ago, when the debate on same-sex parenting<\/strong><\/mark> was reopened by two Cornell University sociologists, Cristobal Young<\/strong> and Erin Cumberworth<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Through an academic review<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, they applied a technique called \u201cmultiverse analysis\u201d<\/strong><\/i> to various studies, including Mark Regnerus\u2019 on children raised by same-sex couples.<\/p>\n

The researchers systematically reprocessed<\/strong> all possible analytical models, varying choices and criteria, to verify the robustness of the original results.<\/p>\n

The reason why no media outlet<\/strong> picked up the news lies in the outcome: in none<\/strong> of the millions of tested models did favourable effects<\/strong> of being raised by same-sex parents emerge. On the contrary, the underlying hypothesis \u2013 that growing up with a stable biological family provides better social and emotional well-being \u2013 proved robust across every scenario<\/strong> analysed.<\/p>\n

The Cornell sociologists admitted to being \u201csurprised by the robustness of Regnerus\u2019 findings<\/strong>\u201d<\/i>. While expecting some complexity and occasionally a reduction in statistical significance, they did not anticipate that the overall negative effect<\/strong> associated with having a same-sex parent would appear in all variants.<\/p>\n

Certainly, in some models the effect was attenuated, but never disappeared<\/strong>. In other approaches that considered both family transition and presence of LGBTQ+ parents simultaneously, both factors contributed: the influence could not be attributed to just one variable.<\/p>\n

Commenting on Regnerus\u2019 study, Young and Cumberworth note that it quickly became \u201cone of the most vehemently contested<\/strong> studies in 21st-century sociology\u201d<\/i>.<\/p>\n

Yet, the two Cornell sociologists examined the main academic objections to Regnerus\u2019 work (notably from Michael Rosenfeld, Simon Cheng, and Brian Powell), observing that the critics simply stacked the deck<\/strong> (particularly by reducing the sample size) in an attempt to diminish statistical significance.<\/p>\n

The scholars concluded that the advantage<\/strong> of having stable, opposite-sex biological parents for children has persisted so robustly in the data not because the arguments supporting this finding are smarter than those opposing it, but because they reflect a social fact stubbornly rooted<\/strong> in human reality itself.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

The Debate on Same-Sex Parenting is Flawed<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Young and Cumberworth hope that the solid validation<\/strong> of Mark Regnerus\u2019 conclusions may help renew the debate on same-sex parenting<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

For this reason, Sullins concludes, it is highly likely \u201cthat Young and Cumberworth\u2019s reanalysis will meet ideological silence<\/strong>\u201d<\/i>. And indeed, that has been exactly the case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cornell University reprocesses sociologist Mark Regnerus\u2019 investigation into serious issues faced by children of same-sex couples.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61747,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":51,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1666,1667,654,1669,1668,1665,1670],"class_list":["post-61746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-cristobal-young","tag-erin-cumberworth","tag-gay-adoption","tag-gay-adoption-studies","tag-mark-regnerus","tag-same-sex-adoption","tag-same-sex-parenting-studies"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew Evidence Finds No Benefits to Same-Sex Parenting - UCCR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Cornell University reprocesses sociologist Mark Regnerus\u2019 investigation into serious issues faced by children of same-sex couples.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uccronline.it\/eng\/2025\/10\/21\/new-evidence-finds-no-benefits-to-same-sex-parenting\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New Evidence Finds No Benefits to Same-Sex Parenting - 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A hope met with skepticism by Paul Sullins<\/strong>, Sociology professor at the Catholic University of America, who comments<\/a><\/em><\/strong> that, in his view, \u201cRegnerus\u2019 critics or supporters of same-sex parenting\u201d<\/i> opposed the research for a reason \u201cthat was not methodological, but ethical<\/strong>\u201d<\/i>.<\/p>\n