Child Abuse in Lesbian Families

The National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS) has published new data regarding the incidence of child abuse in lesbian families. The study “has been following and reporting on a cohort of planned lesbian families with children conceived through donor insemination…the NLLFS examines the social, psychological, and emotional development of the children as well as the dynamics of planned lesbian families. This is the longest-running and largest prospective investigation of lesbian mothers and their children in the United States. For nearly a quarter century, this study has been providing information to specialists in healthcare, family services, adoption, foster care, sociology, feminist studies, education, ethics, same-sex marriage, civil union, and public policy on matters pertaining to LGBT families.”

What’s particularly interesting is that the study found no incidence of abuse (physical or sexual) at the hands of caregivers or parents among the adolescents participating in the study. You can read the full-text article reporting the study’s finding here (PDF). The article was published online this week in the Archives of Sexual Behavior.