According to the American Psychological Association, "More and more lesbian women and gay men are choosing to parent. They are adopting children, becoming foster parents, having biological children through donor insemination, etc., either as single parents or with other gay or lesbian coparents." (Lesbian and Gay Parenting: A Resource for Psychologists, 1995.) Bisexual and transgender people are also making choices to maintain or expand their families. While there have always been GLBT parents, there has been a recent increase in the number of GLBT people who are making that choice and who are being visible about it.

For many years, people assumed that if someone was homosexual, bisexual or transgender, they either didn't want to or couldn't become parents. This is not true. GLBT people are just like everyone else - some want to have children and some don't. But being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender is quickly becoming less of a barrier to starting a family.

Over the past thirty years, GLBT people have worked hard to secure legal protections and social acceptance. For much of GLBT history, parenting was possible only if you engaged in a heterosexual relationship or marriage. GLBT parents had to chose between coming out of the closet and losing their family, or staying closeted and denying their true selves. Now, people who come out in heterosexual marriages are able to maintain a relationship with their children, while being honest with themselves. At the same time, thanks to medical advances and progressive adoption laws, GLBT couples or singles can decide to become parents on their own.

There is no evidence that GLBT people are not good parents, or that there are negative emotional or psychological impacts on their children. On the contrary, studies have consistently shown that there are no differences in the emotional and psychological development between children with gay parents or children with heterosexual parents. (See the American Psychological Association report.)

Overall, it's most important to remember that families are about love, not about narrow definitions. Families with GLBT parents love and support their children just like heterosexual parents, and are just as much a family.

To see PFLAG’s official policy statement on parenting refer to PFLAG’s Official Policy Statement On Parenting.