Researchers at a university in Israel have concluded a study that compared brain scans of new moms, new straight dads, and new gay dads and found that gay dads develop brain patterns that resemble both mothers and fathers. The lead researcher explained that when two fathers are co-parenting, “their brains must recruit both networks, the emotional and the cognitive, for optimal parenting.” While there have been studies that have showed that children raised by homosexual fair no worse than children raised by heterosexual couples, this is the first study that shows why this may be. This is also one of the first steps towards discrediting the argument that a child needs both a mother and father in order to receive a quality upbringing.
I think this study is a great example of proving that homosexual couples can do an equally great job of parenting. While some believe that gay dads can’t develop the same kind of bond with a child that a mother can, another perspective to look at is single dads. They too have to adapt to the role of mother as well as maintaing the role of a father. Numerous studies have shown single parent dads raising children who are just as successful as children with heterosexual parents.
I think this study is very helpful towards our class discussion and relates a lot to the sudy completed in Australia that was brought up in class as well. I also agree with the point made in the other comment about single parents having this ability as well. 16 out of the 18 years I’ve been alive I’ve been raised solely by my mother and I think that this did affect me greatly, but I don’t think the quality of my upbringing was any worse than the upbringing of children from homes with a mother and father. When people say single parent homes are “broken homes” it’s pretty offensive because I’m not sure where the “broken” part comes from exactly and why it’s a derogatory term. Single parent homes are becoming a norm nowadays with such high divorce rates and homes with one parent and two parents, whether a mom and dad, two mom, or two dads, can easily allow for the quality upbringing of a child.