Love

Can Two Gay Men Raise A Baby? Karl Lagerfeld Doesn't Think So

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Recently, it seems having children is the new trend in Hollywood — everyone's doing it. Whether it's a heterosexual couple, like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, or a gay couple, like Neil Patrick Harris and his long-time partner David Burtka, couples are going to great lengths to create families.

Some adopt, some choose to seek out and use surrogates. Regardless of the method, everyone deserves a chance to have a family. German fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld, however, thinks otherwise.

At the finale of his Chanel Haute Couture show, Lagerfeld told the NY Daily News that while his show was meant to display his support of gay marriage, he was much less supportive of surrogacy, or what he referred to as gay men "ordering babies."

He said men should adopt instead, though doesn't seem to fully support that idea either. "Two mothers seems to me to be better than two fathers. A child without a mother that's a bit sad," he said.

However, science and a few influential figures seem to disagree. Same-sex couples are just as capable of raising children as straight couples and, often, the children of gay couples are much more well-rounded, academically intelligent and motivated.

While campaigning for re-election in May of 2012, President Barack Obama stood up against comments made by opponent Rick Santorum about children being better off with a father in jail than they were being raised by gay or lesbian parents.

President Obama announced his support of gay marriage, citing gay couples from his own life, "same-sex couples who are as committed, as monogamous, as responsible, as loving a group of parents as any heterosexual couple that I know." Adding, "And in some cases, more so."

According to a Huffington Post article by Dr. Peggy Drexler, who has worked with and studied both gay and heterosexual couples extensively, "in general, gay parents tend to be more motivated, more committed, and more thoughtful parents than heterosexual couples." She says this is because gay couples usually have to work harder to become parents and plan ahead whereas, heterosexual couples become parents by accident more often.

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A study from Stanford University supports this claim, proving that children brought up straight parents and those raised by gay parents did equally well in school.

In fact, children raised by gay parents are more well-rounded, according to researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine. "Some studies showed that single heterosexual parents' children have more difficulties than children who have parents of the same sex," Ellen C. Perrin, professor of pediatrics at Tufts said. Her research found that the children raised by homosexual couples did better in the areas of discipline, self-esteem and also had less psychosocial issues both at home and at school.

The scientists have spoken, Mr. Lagerfeld. Children raised by same-sex couples (whether they're two women or two men) do just fine, if not better, than children raised by straight couples.

What do you think about Lagerfeld's statement? Does a child need a mother?