Children of same-sex couples are not impacted negatively, study shows

New scientific research has offered evidence that children of same-sex parents experience no differences on a range of key social and behavioural outcomes.

Carried out by the University of Colorado Denver, the study examined thousands of peer-reviewed articles referencing same-sex parenting for patterns in citation of work by other researchers.

It was found that scientists have developed a broad consensus that any suspicions that children are negatively impacted by being raised by same-sex parents are not supported by scientific literature.

Given that debates are taking place worldwide over the prospect of legalising gay marriage, the team hopes this study will provide an accessible and objective measure of scientific consensus for application to a range of legal questions.

Jimi Adams, an associate professor at the department of health and behavioral studies at the University of Colorado Denver College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said: "I found overwhelming evidence that scientists agree that there is not a negative impact to children of same-sex couples."