A Longitudinal Study on Children in Planned Lesbian Families: Psychological health outcomes in childhood and adolescence

Since the lesbian baby boom began in the mid-1980s, there has been ongoing interest in the health and development of children in planned lesbian families. Overall, studies have demonstrated that these children are comparable to their counterparts reared by heterosexual parents. However, relatively few studies have focused specifically on adolescent offspring of lesbian parents. The present study is a prospective, longitudinal study on children in planned lesbian families. It was initiated in 1986 when the mothers were inseminating or pregnant with the index children. The study has a 93% retention rate, and is the largest and longest-running study of its kind in the USA.

In this session, preliminary results will be presented from Phase 5 of the ongoing longitudinal study. This presentation will focus on the psychosocial adjustment of the children (N=78) at the ages of 10 and 17. The children's scores on the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) during Phase 4 of our study (when they were 10 years old—T 4) will be compared with the scores during Phase 5 (when they are 17 years old—T 5). Additionally, the children's data from T4 and T5 will be analyzed to determine whether experiences of homophobia, openness about having a lesbian mother, and attending a school with LGBT curricula are associated with psychosocial adjustment and overall well-being at T 5. Data were collected by interviewing the children themselves and by parental reports. Standardized instruments were used—including the CBCL and the Youth Quality of Life Scale.