A new study published in the June issue of Demography, finds children of same-sex parents are getting more one-on-one time with their parents than children with different-sex parents, according to a new study .
The authors looked into the ways the 44,188 participants of the 2003 – 2013 American Time Use Survey spent time interacting with their children, in an attempt to measure the difference in outcomes of children raised by same-sex parents and different-sex parents.
Overall, women (regardless of the gender of their partners) and men coupled with other men spent ‘significantly more time’ with their children than a male-female couple.
This results in children of same-sex couples receiving one hour more child-focused parent time than children of different-sex couples – an average of 3.5 hours per day.
Authors Kate C. Prickett and Alexa Martin-Storey wrote in a post for The Society Pages.
A key implication of our study is that the focus on whether same-sex parents provide depreciably different family contexts for healthy child development is misplaced
If anything, the results show that same-sex couples are more likely to invest time in the types of parenting behaviors that support child development.
In line with a recent study that has continued to highlight that poverty — more so than family structure — is the greatest detriment to parenting practices, it’s hard not to see how delegitimizing same-sex families in ways that create both social and economic costs for them, pose a greater source of disadvantage for children.”
Sperm banking is a huge industry that has been around for decades but one that is relatively loosely regulated in the U.S.
Here are some things to know about the industry:
How many Babies come from donated sperm?
While anecdotal evidence might suggest that the use of sperm donors to conceive a baby is rising because of improvements in technology and its popularity among lesbian couples and single women, there is no way to know for sure. No federal agency or professional organisation tracks the number of children born from sperm donations.
The last time a count was done was in 1988 by the now-defunct U.S. Office of Technology Assessment, said Rene Almeling, a sociology professor at Yale University who has done extensive research on sperm and egg donation.
Sperm banks generally tell clients about a donor’s family medical history; physical traits like hair color, eye color, height and blood type; some educational and professional information; and some personal social preferences.
Additional information that might also be available for some donors, possibly for an extra fee, includes childhood and adult photos, audio interviews and other personality attributes.
Much of the information comes from surveys that the donors fill out.
What’s the cost
It depends on the sperm bank and various options the recipient can choose from. Georgia-based Xytex Corp., one of the bigger players in the industry, provides free profiles with basic information including medical history, genetic testing results, physical traits, and limited educational and professional background. There is a tiered pricing structure to see more extensive information.
A single unit of sperm from Xytex costs between $395 and $795, depending on a variety of factors, including the method of insemination the recipient plans to use and whether the recipient wants her child to have access to the donor’s identity once the child turns 18.
Donor anonymity
Sperm donors are generally anonymous when the recipient buys the sperm and is inseminated. Some sperm banks, including Xytex, allow a donor’s identity to be disclosed with the mother’s permission once the child turns 18. The child could then use the information to seek out a relationship with the biological father, or simply contact the donor with questions about family history.
Donor requirements
Donors are screened over a period of four to six weeks. The screening generally includes a blood test, a genetic test, a physical and collecting sperm samples. Donors are asked to provide three generations of family medical history, including mental health, as well as some social background and preferences.
Because of the expense of screening, donors are frequently asked to donate once a week for at least a year. To keep up their sperm count, they’re advised not to engage in any sexual activity for at least 48 hours prior to donating, to try to limit alcohol consumption and stress, and to exercise regularly and eat healthily. If the sperm count is too low, the sperm bank will throw out the sample and the donor won’t be paid.
A Texas mother says a shop assistant accused her of child abuse when she tried to buy a suit for her daughter.
Rachel Giordano took her five year old daughter Maddie to Martha’s Miniatures in Denison, Texas to buy a new outfit for Easter. She was unsurprised when Maddie made a beeline for the boy’s suits.
Maddie she just gets a suit every year. She looks forward to it. That’s how she…She’s kind of different. She just wants to wear a suit and tie, and Easter’s the perfect time for it because there’s always cute stuff out.”
Rachel Giordano
Giordano claims that when the shop assistant realised the suit was for a little girl, Ms Giordano says she reacted extremely negatively.
The woman’s face was just a face of disgust. She told me that I was promoting wrong behaviour. That parent’s should not let their children choose the way that they dress if it’s cross-gendered. She just approached it in a very hostile manner and tells me that’s wrong, I should not be encouraging this behavior, that it sounds like it’s more of an issue on mom’s part, my part, than my daughter’s.”
Rachel Giordano
She says Maddie started to cry, so they left the shop. After encouraging friends to complain about the shop, the shop assistant apparently posted a statement on the shop’s Facebook page.
This is child abuse for the mother. I am sorry, I did not say anything to the children, just to the mom. She is wrong to encourage this.”
That Facebook page has since been taken down and no one from the store has responded to several calls from CBS 11.
Meanwhile, Giordano says Maddie will be wearing a suit this Easter Sunday.
She’s a tom boy. She’s preferred to dress in boys clothes since she was about three-years-old. She just gets a suit every year. She looks forward to it. She just wants to wear a suit and tie, and Easter’s the perfect time for it because there’s always cute stuff out.”
Rachel Giordano
Ms Giordano eventually bought a suit in another shop, and says: “People don’t need to pick on little kids for what they’re wearing.”
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