作者 ｜
李怡青(台灣大學心理學系)
摘要 ｜
同性伴侶經營家庭（簡稱彩虹家庭），從過往社會中的極少數，到現今挑戰不同社會對於家庭規範與法律保障的局限性。在多國通過婚姻平權法案之後，同性伴侶擁有人工生殖與領養的權利，使其家庭樣態更加多元。過往整合分析研究者發現彩虹家庭的家庭功能、家長與子女的表現，和異性伴侶家庭（簡稱預設型態家庭）一樣好，但未能檢視研究與樣本特性對於兩類家庭比較結果的影響，尚有不足。此外，即使多國已通過婚姻平權法案，許多學者和民眾仍有刻板印象（如，男性能否稱職養育子女？）或疑慮（如，異性伴侶家庭的優勢在小孩年紀較長時才出現？）。本文以量化整合分析方法，比較彩虹家庭與預設型態家庭的家庭功能、家長和子女表現，重複驗證兩類家庭型態一樣好的結論。此外，本文回答過往的實徵研究與整合分析無法回答的問題：同性伴侶父親的表現與同性伴侶母親一樣好，亦與預設型態家庭的表現一樣好。本文亦發現，人工生殖或領養的家庭功能兩類家庭大致相仿；子女的種族比例與家庭功能、家長和子女的表現無關；隨著年齡增長，彩虹家庭子女的認知表現與自我評估會越來越好。文中並深入探討家庭功能、家長與子女表現的促進因子與危險因子。
關鍵字 ｜
同性父親、同性母親、人工生殖、領養
Title ｜
The Coming-Out of Rainbow Families: A Meta-Analysis of Outcomes for Parents and Offspring
Author ｜
I-Ching Lee(Department of Psychology, National Taiwan University)
Abstract ｜
Same-sex families were once considered an anomaly, but they have now become a force which challenges norms and demands legal protections for alternative families. After the passage of marriage equality legalization in various countries, same-sex couples have gained the rights to artificial impregnation and adoption, thus diversifying same-sex families. According to previous meta-analyses, overwhelming similarities between same-sex and different-sex families were observed; however, the lack of evaluation of the variation in the effect sizes has limited the contributions of these studies. In addition, even though legal protections for same-sex families have been offered in various societies, stereotypes (e.g., could men be good caretakers?) and concerns (e.g., perhaps the advantages of different-sex families would be apparent when toddlers grow up) still exist. This article utilizes a quantitative meta-analysis to compare same-sex and different-sex families in terms of family functions, and outcomes for parents and offspring. This research replicates the findings in previous meta-analyses. There is virtually no difference between these two types of families. Extending previous findings, same-sex fathers are as good as same-sex mothers and different-sex parents. Examining children born via insemination or adoption also demonstrates similarities in same-sex and different-sex families. Children’s racial composition does not moderate family functions or outcomes for the parents and their offspring. The age of the offspring matters only in the case of a couple of indicators. When the children grow older, children in same-sex families perform better in cognitive evaluations and self-evaluations than children in different-sex families. The above findings are consistent with the previous research consensus that parental sexual identity has little effect on family functions, or on outcomes for parents and children. I will further discuss potential facilitating and risk factors for family functions and outcomes for parents and their offspring.
Keywords ｜
same-sex fathers, same-sex mothers, artificial impregnation or insemination, adoption