Many studies have demonstrated that children's well-being is affected much more by their relationships with their parents, their parents' sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support for the family than by the gender or the sexual orientation of their parents.  Abstract 
 
 Extensive data available from more than 30 years of research reveal that children raised by gay and lesbian parents have demonstrated resilience with regard to social, psychological, and sexual health despite economic and legal disparities and social stigma. “Marriage strengthens families and benefits child development, and it also increases a parent’s sense of competence and security when they are able to raise children without stigma,” said Dr. Nanette Gartrell, the lead author of the study and a visiting scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law. Children may be born to, adopted by, or cared for temporarily by married couples, nonmarried couples, single parents, grandparents, or legal guardians, and any of these may be heterosexual, gay or lesbian, or of another orientation.  Abstract 
 
 To promote optimal health and well-being of all children, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) supports access for all children to (1) civil marriage rights for their parents and (2) willing and capable foster and adoptive parents, regardless of the parents’ sexual orientation.
– America's pediatricians have come out in support of gay marriage. In an announcement published today, the American Academy of Pediatrics, which is comprised of 60,000 such doctors, expressed that such unions benefit children, providing them with legal and financial security. It also backed adoption and foster care rights for gay couples. The key statement: "Scientific evidence affirms that children have similar developmental and emotional needs and receive similar parenting whether they are raised by parents of the same or different genders. If a child has 2 living and capable parents who choose to create a permanent bond by way of civil marriage, it is in the best interests of their child(ren) that legal and social institutions allow and support them to do so, irrespective of their sexual orientation." The New York Times reports that in addition to its policy statement, the academy published a 10-page technical report that has been four years in the making and reviewed 30 years' worth of research on the subject. It found that children's "relationships with their parents, their parents' sense of competence and security, and the presence of social and economic support" affect a child's well-being more than the gender or the sexual orientation of his parents. Not everyone is on board, however, with some calling the statement premature and noting the limitations of the research used, including small sample sizes and a lack of nationally representative data.