Child psychological adjustment in planned gay father families: a meta-analysis

Introduction: The increase in gay fatherhood through adoption, surrogacy, and coparenting arrangements (i.e., “planned gay father families”) worldwide has turned a spotlight onto the impact of parental gender and sexual orientation on children’s psychological adjustment. The present meta-analysis compared the scores of children of gay fathers on standardized indexes of psychological adjustment with normative data and examined possible differences in children’s psychological adjustment between planned gay father families and heterosexual parent families. Methods: Following PRISMA guidelines, the databases PsycInfo, PsycArticles, Scopus, and ProQuest were searched for peer-reviewed articles and grey literature (e.g., dissertations) in the English language that were published (or made available, in the case of grey literature) in or before October 2023 (with a further check in July 2024). From a total of 1993 results, 17 papers assessing children’s adjustment using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire or the Child Behavior Checklist were reviewed. Collectively, these papers provided 54 effect sizes estimated across 1509 participants (n = 628 children of gay fathers; n = 881 children of heterosexual parents). Results: All children scored below the clinical range for psychopathological symptoms when compared with normative data. Also, regardless of the path to parenthood, children of gay fathers displayed significantly better adjustment than children of heterosexual parents (Hedges’ g = −0.20, 95% CI [−0.29, −0.10], p <.001). Child’s assigned sex at birth (p =.048) and age (p =.005), as well as parent education (p =.003), were significant moderators. Conclusions: Planned gay father families constitute a healthy context for children to flourish, disconfirming widespread assumptions that gay fathers are less suited to parenthood than heterosexual parents. Policy Implication: The results emphasize to policymakers and practitioners that supportive environments and reduced discrimination at both interpersonal and institutional levels are crucial for the healthy psychological adjustment of children of gay fathers.