Children Need Both A Mother And A Father

Dr. A. Dean Byrd recently presented a paper on gender complementarity at a family conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

November 19, 2004 - NARTH Scientific Advisory Committee member Dr. A. Dean Byrd presented a paper, "Gender Complementarity and Child-Rearing: Where Tradition and Science Agree," at the European Regional Dialogue on the family in Geneva, Switzerland (August 23-25, 2004).

Dr. Byrd's full report will become part of "The Family in the Third Millennium: A Compendium of Scholarship and Opinion Supporting Family as the Fundamental Unit of Society," a scholarly work to be published in 2005.

In his paper, Dr. Byrd summarized the results of decades of research showing that children need both a mother and a father in order to grow into emotionally mature adults.

According to Dr. Byrd, research study after research study has shown that "Children navigate the developmental stages more easily, are more solid in their gender identity, perform better in academic tasks at school, have fewer emotional disorders and become better functioning adults when they are reared by dual-gender parents."

On the contrary, however, studies of children reared in lesbian homes indicate that girls become more masculinized and boys become more feminized in their behaviors. (Stacy and Biblarz, 2001) Both boys and girls in homosexual households were more likely to experiment with homosexuality than those reared in heterosexual homes.

Dr. Byrd also detailed the significant physical and emotional health risks of those who identify as homosexuals, including a reduced lifespan, suicidality, drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and domestic violence.

Lesbians are also at three times the risk for breast cancer than their heterosexual counterparts and face a whole range of STDs, including bacterial vaginosis, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. Homosexual males face anal cancer, syphilis, gonorrhea, herpes simplex virus, and AIDS infection.

Dr. Byrd notes that in the area of adoption, children need to be placed in stable homes with a mother and a father--without the mental and physical problems associated with homosexual behaviors.

He notes: "Regarding gender complementarity and child-rearing, tradition and science agree: mothers and fathers provide optimal development for children."