A new study contends adoptive couples, specifically homosexual partners, invest more time and money in their kids than biological parents -- but there's little data to support the claim.
The research from Indiana University and the University of Connecticut seeks to dispute the age-old notion that kids are better off being raised by their natural parents. Far from being just a pat on the back for adoptive parents, the study all but turns into a soapbox for the gay-activist agenda. Instead of staying focused on adoptive parents, the researchers willingly expand the argument to gay couples.
Brad Wilcox, professor of sociology at the University of Virginia, analyzed the data.
"This study is yet another academic effort to kind of prepare the way intellectually for the normalization of same-sex families," he told Family News in Focus.
Notably, the study did not look at how well adopted children fared in school or socially. It only measured how parents, adoptive or biological, contributed to the relationship.
The study authors note recent court cases against same-sex marriage that have hinged on what they termed an outdated body of research upholding traditional marriage. But Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, said the study lacks solid evidence to back the claim.
One example of an apparent contradiction: The study indicates stepparents don't invest as much in their kids as do biological moms and dads -- and most gay couples are involved in raising stepchildren.
"Most so-called homosexual parents are actually raising children who are their biological children conceived in a previous heterosexual relationship," Sprigg noted. "Conclusions are offered by researchers which are not supported by their own data. When that happens, you have to assume that the conclusions are driven by an ideological predisposition rather than the research itself."
