Dr. Byrd Provides Testimony In English Court Case Regarding Same-
1 February 2007 -
Dr. Byrd's testimony provided scientific evidence for Judge Andrew McClintock's
belief that mothers and fathers are required for optimal child development. Judge
McClintock had asked to be excused from those cases which might require him to place
children in permanent motherless or fatherless homes, deeming that such placements
are not in the best interest of children.
His legal counsel argued that Mr. McClintock
was justified in excusing himself because "... a judicial office holder is entitled
to take the view that such social experimentation [i.e., the placement of children
in homes where either motherlessness or fatherlessness is assured] is not in the
best interests of the child" and because "such a departure from social norms requires
cogent evidence." Further, his lawyers argued that "There is a rational basis for
the religious and the philosophical belief; in short... the belief is verifiable."
Dr.
Byrd's testimony at the Sheffield Employment Tribunal included the following:
Traditional Marriage: Benefits and Detriments:
1. The evidence clearly supports the
principle of traditional, complementary marriage with gender diversity.
2. Married
men and women, when compared to unmarried men and women, are more likely to be financially
stable, to accumulate assets, and to own a home.1 This conclusion holds true even
when the comparison group is cohabiting adults.2 The income of men who are married
is 10 to 40% more than that of single men with similar professional/educational background
and experience.3 Women who are married do not experience a similar financial advantage
over women who are not, primarily because most women combine marriage with motherhood,
which tends to depress the earnings of married women. 4 However, women from disadvantaged
backgrounds are less likely to fall into poverty if they marry and the marriage stays
intact.5
3. Marriage is protective of the emotional and physical health of men and
women. Adults who are married have greater longevity, less disease and illness, increased
happiness and lower levels of mental illness, especially depression and substance
abuse, than do both single and cohabiting adults.6 Married men and women are more
likely to encourage their spouses to seek medical screenings and health care than
do cohabiting partners.7 Adult maturity and fidelity correlates with marriage and
provides a source of motivation for both men and women to avoid risky health behaviors,
such as heavy alcohol and drug use, as well as promiscuous sexual behaviors.8 In
addition, the financial stability associated with marriage enables men and women
to afford better health care.9 The social and emotional support that emerges from
marriage reduces the consequences of stressors and the associated stress hormones,
like cortisol, that often cause both physical and mental illnesses.10
Dual Gender
Parenting and Child-
4. The research supporting the importance of dual gender
parenting and childrearing is extensive and clear in its singular conclusion: all
variables considered, children are best served when reared in a home with a married
mother and father. 11 Mothers and fathers contribute in gender-
5. Children raised
in homes with both mothers and fathers navigate the developmental stages more easily,
are more solid and secure in their sense of self and in their sense of gender identity,
perform better in the school system, have fewer social and emotional problems and
become better functioning adults.
The plethora of studies which span decades supports
the conclusion that gender-
Greenberger (1984) noted that
the essential contributions to the optimal development of children are not only gender-
6. The complementary contributions of mothers and fathers
are readily observable in their gender-
Fathers, on the
other hand, were less involved in caretaking and engaged in more overt play.17 Such
complementary contributions appear critical for later development. Male and female
differences are readily observed in the characteristics of physicality associated
with mothering and fathering. Mothers use touch to calm, soothe and to bring comfort
to children. When mothers reach for children, they frequently bring them to their
breasts to provide safety, warmth and security. Father's touch is most often described
as playful and stimulating, bringing with it a sense of excitement to the child.
This rough and tumble play (RTP) is characterized by holding the child at arm's length
in front of them, making eye contact, tossing the infant in the air and holding the
child in such a way to have the child look over the father's shoulder. Shapiro (1994)
notes that these "daddy holds" emphasize a sense of freedom for the child.18
7. Rohner
and Veneziano (2001) conducted an analysis of more than a 100 studies on the role
of fathers in child development and concluded that not only did a nurturing father
play a critical role in a child's well-
8. Clarke-
Through
RTP, children quickly learn that physical violence such as biting and kicking are
not acceptable. In RTP, children learn from their fathers how to manage emotionally-
9. Stress resilience is another area where fathers' contributions
are noticeable as well. The research conducted by Diener (2002) at the University
of Utah is particularly poignant.23 She demonstrated that infants (12 months old)
who had close relationships with their fathers were more stress resistant than those
who did not have close relationships with their fathers. These babies who had secure
father relationships used more coping strategies. Diener concluded: "there may be
something unique to fathers that provides children with different opportunities to
regulate their emotions."24
10. Discipline is another area where differences between
mothers and fathers emerge quite prominently. Fathers more frequently rely on firmness,
principles, and rules. Mothers rely more on responding, negotiating, and adjusting
toward the children's moods as well as to the context. Mothers place much more emphasis
on intuition in trying to understand their children's needs and the emotions of the
moment. Gilligan (1982) attributes these characteristics to innate differences between
men and women: men stress fairness, justice and duty based on rules and principles
whereas women are more inclined to focus on understanding, sympathy, care and helping.25
11.
The children of unmarried or divorced parents are at risk for emotional, behavioral
and health problems. They are more likely to be abused by their own parents, by step-
12. The consequences of father
absence has been well-
13. Golombok, Tasker & Murray (1997) found
that "children in father absent families perceive themselves to be less cognitively
competent and less physically competent than children in father-
14. Although there is more research to support the ill effects
of father hunger in children, the consequences of mother hunger are beginning to
emerge in case studies. This is partially explained because of the historical preference
for mothers to be the primary caretakers of their children even when divorce occurs.
The Eisold report (1998) provides evidence that mother hunger may indeed emerge when
a child is deprived of a mother or mother figure. In the article titled "Recreating
Mother," a male child was conceived by a surrogate mother for two homosexual men.31
They had arranged an artificial insemination with a woman who agreed to relinquish
her parental rights in return for medical care and financial compensation.
The child,
Nick, was cared for by a hired nanny and began attending school when he was two years
old. When Nick was 2½ years old, the nanny was abruptly terminated, another nanny
was hired and subsequently fired, and a third nanny was hired. The homosexual couple
adopted a second child. At 4½ years old, Nick's behavioral problems resulted in a
referral to a female child psychologist, a fourth mother substitute. Because Nick
lived in a world where mothers were hired and fired, he fantasized about buying a
new mother.
Eisold questioned, "How do we explain why this child, the son of a male
couple, seemed to need to construct a woman — 'mother' — with whom he could play
the role of a loving boy/man? How did such an idea enter his mind? What inspired
his intensity on the subject?" Eisold sees some normal, innate developmental forces
at work in a boy who has no mother: if he has none, he will need to make one.
15.
Biller's (1993) extensive research on parent-
• Paternal and maternal differences are stimulating for the infant as they provide contrasting images via differences in mothers' and fathers' dress, their movements, even voices. Because of these differences, infants may prefer mothers when they want to be consoled or soothed and fathers when they want stimulation.
• These differences are important sources of complementary learning for children.
• Where there are strong parental attachments, infants are at a decided developmental advantage compared to those infants who only had close maternal relationships.
• Fathers who are involved with their children stimulated them to explore and investigate
whereas mothers focused on pre-
• Parental relationships seem particularly important for boys during the second year
of the child's life, as boys become more father focused. Unlike boys, girls do not
seem to have this consistent focus during this developmental period.33
16. Biller's
research demonstrates clearly the importance of mothers and fathers to the healthy
development of children, not only in the unique paternal and maternal contributions,
but in the complementary nature of those contributions.
The following conclusion aptly
summarizes his research: Infants who have two positively involved parents tend to
be more curious and eager to explore than those who do not have a close relationship
with their fathers….Well-
17. The extensive research spanning decades yields an
overwhelming abundance of data supporting the importance of both mothers and fathers
to the healthy development of children. Recent evidence is likewise not only supportive,
but compellingly, demonstrates that a society concerned with optimal child development
is most benefited by traditional marriage and married, dual-
18. Advocacy groups argue that there are no differences
between children raised by same-
19. Studies
of children raised by male couples are virtually non-
The claim has
been made that homosexual parents raise children as effectively as married biological
parents. A detailed analysis of the methodologies of the 49 studies, which are put
forward to support this claim, shows that they suffer from severe methodological
flaws. In addition to their methodological flaws, none of the studies deals adequately
with the problem of affirming the null hypothesis, of adequate sample size, and of
spurious correlation. 35
20. Williams (2000) arrived at similar conclusions to those
of Lerner and Nagai, but actually went further in his re-
21. In reviewing both the Golombok, Spencer, and Rutter
(1983) research37 and the Golombok and Tasker research (1996), 38 Williams noted
that the authors ignored a follow-
For example, Huggins
noted a difference in the variability of self-
22. Patterson's research, which has been repeatedly
cited by the American Psychological Association to support gay rights, has come under
significant criticism not only because of methodological flaws but because of substantial
misrepresentation and selection bias. In fact, her research and subsequent testimony
were excluded from a Florida court because of the use of herself and friends as subjects
and her unwillingness to comply with a court order to provide documentation, even
when requested by her own side in the conflict.41
23. More recently, Wainwright and
Patterson reported research on adolescents with lesbian parents/ heterosexual parents
and the relationship to delinquency, victimization and substance abuse.42 Their conclusion
that adolescents raised by lesbian couples do not differ from those raised by heterosexual
couples, and subsequently their findings "provide no warrant for legal or policy
discrimination" find little support in their own study.43
24. First of all, no parents
in their study were asked about their sexual identities. Secondly, their conclusion
that adolescents whose parents had good relationships with them reported less delinquent
behavior and substance abuse is not a novel finding. It is interesting that Wainwright
and Patterson either did not address or did not find differences on other measures
such as sexual behaviors (they only reported sex behavior under the influence of
alcohol). In order to make a case for policy, the authors would need to replicate
with much larger sample sizes, directly ascertain the sexual identities of the parents
and follow these adolescents into adulthood. Stacey and Biblarz accurately highlighted
the importance of longitudinal studies noting, "Thus far, no work has compared children's
long-
25.
Nock, a sociologist at the University of Virginia, reviewed all of the available
studies on parenting by same-
26. Even the pro
same-
1. No research
used nationally represented samples.
2. There were limited outcome measures, most of which were unrelated to standards
of child well-
3. There were few longitudinal
studies which followed children of same-
4. Virtually
all of the studies compared single lesbian mothers to single heterosexual mothers
rather than comparing single lesbian mothers to married heterosexual mothers.46
27.
The Stacey and Biblarz (2001) meta-
28. The
most reputable scientists would agree that the research on children raised by same-
In
summary, the available research supports the following: children raised in homes
headed by gay men and lesbians do not resemble their peers raised in homes with a
married mother and father. And given the historical and prevailing legal and psychological
standard, the best interest of the child, one can reasonably conclude that based
upon this standard, the optimal health, well-
29. Traditional
marriage has supported societies for millennia. Historical and current research clearly
demonstrate that both adults and children benefit from this family structure. Differences
emerge when comparisons are made between same-
The rejection of gender roles thus appears to be unhealthy.
-
1
Wilcox, W. B. et al. (2005). Why marriage matters: Twenty-
2 Id.
3 Id.
4 Budig,
M.J. & England, P. (2001). The wage penalty for motherhood. American Sociological
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5 Wilcox, W. B. et al. (2005).
6 Waite, L. & Gallagher, M. (2000).
The Case for Marriage. New York: Doubleday.
7 Id.
8 Id.
9 Id.
10 Id.
11 Popenoe, D. 1996.
Life without father. New York: Mark Kessler Books, The Free Press, pg 176.
12 Moore,
K.A. et al. (2002). Marriage from a child's perspective: How does family structure
affect children and what can we do about it? Child Trends Research Brief (Washington
D.C.: Child Trends)(June)
13 Baumrind, D. (1982) Are androgynous individuals more
effective persons and parents? Child Development, 53, 44-
14 Baumrind, D. (1991).
The influence of parenting style on adolescent competence and substance use. Journal
of Adolescence, 11(11), 59-
15 Greenberger, E. (1984). Defining psychosocial maturity
in adolescence. In P. Karoly & J.J. Steffans, (Eds.) Adolescent behavior disorders:
foundations and temporary concerns. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
16 Rossi, A.S.
(1987) Parenthood in transition: From lineage to child to self-
17 Yogman, M.W. (1982)
Development of the father-
18 Shapiro, J.L. (1994). Letting dads be dads. Parents, June, 165, 168.
19 Rohner,
R. P. & Veneziano, R.A. (2001). "The importance of father love: history and contemporary
evidence," Review of General Psychology 5.4, 382-
20 Id at 405.
21 Clark-
22 Cromwell, N.A. & Leper, E.M.
(Eds.) (1994) American fathers and public policy, Washington, D.C.: National Academy
Press.
23 Diener, M.L., Mangelsdorf, S.C., McHale, J.L & Frosch, C.A. (2002). Infancy,
3(2), 153-
24 Broughton, A.E. (2002). U. study says dads are important, too. Salt
Lake Tribune, April 5:A1.
25 Gilligan, C. (1994). In a different voice. Cambridge,
MA. Harvard University Press.
26 Garfunkel I. & McLanahan. S.S. (1986). Single mothers
and their children. Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press, pp 30-
27 Blankenhorn,
D. (1995). Fatherless America: Confronting our most urgent social problem. New York:
Basic.
28 Masser, A. (1989). Boys' father hunger: The missing father syndrome. Medical
Aspects of Human Sexuality, 23(1), 44-
29 Golombok, S., Tasker, F., & Murray, C.
(1997). Children raised in fatherless families from infancy: Family relationships
and the socioeconomic development of children of lesbian and single heterosexual
mothers. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 38:783-
30 Spaht, K.S.
(2006). The Current Crisis in Marriage Law, Its Orign, and Its Impact. In Robert
P. George & Jean Bethke Elshtain The meaning of marriage: Family, state, market,
& morals. Dallas: Spence Publishing Co., p 216.
31 Eisold, B., (1998) Recreating mother:
The consolidation of 'heterosexual' gender identification in the young son of homosexual
men. American J. of Orthopsychiatry 68:3:433-
32 Biller, H. (1993). Fathers and
families: Paternal factors in child development. Westport, CT: Auburn House.
33 Id.
at 12-
34 Id. at 16.
35 Lerner, R. & Nagai, A.K. (2000). Out of nothing comes nothing:
Homosexual and heterosexual marriage not shown to be equivalent for raising children,"
paper presented at the Revitalizing the Institution of Marriage for the 21st Century
conference, Brigham Young University, March, Provo, UT, p.1
36 Williams, R. N. (2000)
A critique of the research on same-
37 Golombok, S., Spencer,
A. & Rutter, M. (1983). Children in lesbian and single-
38 Golombok, S. & Tasker, F. (1996). Do parents
influence the sexual orientation of their children? Finding from a longitudinal study
of lesbian families? Developmental Psychology, 32, 3-
39 Williams, R.N. ( 2000).
40
Patterson, C.J. (1995). Families of the lesbian baby boom: Parent's division of labor
and children's adjustment. Developmental Psychology, 31-
41 JUNE AMER, Petitioner,
v. Floyd P. Johnson, District Administrator, District X, Florida Department of Health
and Rehabilitative Services, Respondent, 17th Judicial Circuit in and for Broward
County, Case No. 92-
42 Wainwright, J. & Patterson, C. (2006).
Journal of Family Psychology, 20,3,526-
43 Id at 529.
44 Stacy, J. & Biblarz, T.J.
(2001). (How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter? American Sociological
Review,66 (2), 172.
45 Nock Affidavit 3. Halpern v. Attorney General of Canada, No.
684/00 (Ont. Sup. Ct. of Justice) (copies available from the Institute for Marriage
and Public Policy: info@imapp.org).
46 Patterson, C.J. et al. (2000). Children of
Lesbian and Gay Parents: Research, Law and Policy in Bette L. Bottoms et al., eds.,
Children and the Law: Social Science and Policy 10-
47 Stacy, J. & Biblarz. T.J.
Id, at 159-
48 Id. at 171.
49 Parke, M. (2003). "Are married parents really better
for children?" Center for Law and Social Policy, Policy Brief, May: 1.
Source: http://www.narth.com/docs/byrdtestimony.pdf
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