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FOCUS ON THE FAMILY GIVES FACTS ON HOMOSEXUAL ADOPTIONS

COLORADO SPRINGS, March 20, 2002 (LSN.ca) - Following the promotion of homosexual adoptions by the American Academy of Pediatrics and talk show host Rosie O'Donnell, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family countered these views.

Dobson, heard by 7.5 million listeners each week, emphasized the important role mothers and fathers play in parenting on his national daily broadcast this week and discussed the facts surrounding this critical matter. He said:

-- The AAP's endorsement of homosexual parenting is NOT supported by the research. Drs. Robert Lerner and Althea Nagai, professionals in the field of quantitative analysis, examined 49 empirical studies on same-sex parenting. They found no basis for the conclusion that children raised by homosexual parents fare just as well as those raised by homosexual parents. They found serious methodological flaws in each of the studies examined, including inadequate sample size, biased sample selection, lack of proper control groups and the failure to account for confounding variables. Indeed, the AAP's own report began with this statement, "Accurate statistics regarding the number of parents who are gay or lesbian are impossible to obtain."

-- The AAP's committee's recommendations have ignited a firestorm of protest among America's rank and file pediatricians. Many physicians have condemned the report, challenging its assumptions and criticizing the research cited by the committee as "seriously flawed." Some pediatricians have pulled out of the organization and many others are threatening to as well. The AAP reportedly conducted a poll regarding the issue on their "members only" Web site, and 75 percent of those responding strongly disagreed with the committee's report.

-- Children raised by homosexual parents are more likely to experience gender and sexual confusion, more likely to become promiscuous and more likely to experiment with homosexual behavior. They are also at greater risk of losing a parent to AIDS, substance abuse or suicide.

-- Children raised in a stable, married, heterosexual home do better than children raised in any other type of household. They are healthier physically and emotionally, do better academically, experience less poverty and commit fewer crimes.

-- Children need both a mother and a father. Why? Sociologist David Popenoe of Rutgers University has done extensive research on the different functions that mothers and fathers play in their children's lives. His studies show that while fathers tend to stress competition, challenge, initiative and risk-taking, mothers stress emotional security and personal safety. When disciplining, mothers provide important flexibility and sympathy, while fathers provide predictability and consistency. By nature, same-sex couples are unable to provide one-half of this equation.

See the Focus on the Family release at:
http://www.usnewswire.com/topnews/first/0319-125.html

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