The findings, published in the latest issue of the Journal of GLBT Family Studies, showed that gay fathers were more likely to scale back their careers in order to care for their children. Another difference was that gay fathers also saw their self-esteem and relationships with their extended families greatly improve when they had children.
Other issues like relations with coworkers, a transition toward friendships with other couples, and less time for sleep, exercise, and hobbies were similar to heterosexual fathers.
The average age of the gay men in the study was 41, and most couples were affluent, with the average annual household income listed as $270,000.
Besides the income, which would be delightful for us, what is weird about the study is that a lot of this would seem to be almost "natural," given the circumstances: in a so-called "traditional" family, it is likely that a mom would be given the responsibilities of raising the child versus in a same sex partnership, one of the partners--one of the dads--would give more time than the other. Seems natural to me.
However, in my home, when married, I spent more time with my daughter because of our schedules (she worked while I wrote a dissertation), while my son's mom spent more time in the early years of life with him because of our schedule (I worked).
Not so sure this study breaks any new grounds.
Pace!
B
1 comment:
I have no idea what this commenter means...
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