Do you believe it is healthy for a child ....

Having two same gender parents is vastly preferable to languishing in foster care where you're just warehoused. It's preferable to homelessness. It's preferable to the situation in many parts of the world what there is starvation and war and disease. Any parent who would be leaving an AIDS orphan like in Africa, or trying to protect their child from the genocide in Darfur, would give anything to give their child a chance for a good life with two male or two female parents to raise them in love or safety. The shame isn't in lovingly raising the child -- whoever does it -- the shame is for those who put the child's life in extreme danger in the first place.

Well, first of all I, as a heterosexual man I don't know wether a gay man is really a man, wether he considers himself a man, it's very confusing, and I don't even dare to talk about gay women. No disrespect meant, I just don't know. What I know is that parental love has different effects on the child wether it's father's love or mother's love. A mother's love is unconditional ( a cynic might say 'blind`) whereas a father's love is conditional. And the child might not understand the difference intellectually. but he/she sure feels it. And I believe that this is an important distinction for the child to make. So how does this work in gay couples? Again, I don't have the slightest clue.

I agree with the first poster. Men and women are not the same, physically, emotionally or otherwise. Children need the influence of both to grow up emotionally healthy.

i dont see a problem with it. just because a child is raised by a father and mother doesnt mean the child will be raised well or in a healthy family. furthermore, what about single parents? a child raised by a single parent also does not have either the father or mother figure in their lives, but that doesn't necessarily mean the child will be raised in an unhealthy manner. families can be disfunctional and unhealthy no matter what the situation.

In this day and age with so many odd family structures I don't see how we can really say that it is unhealthy for the child. How many families aren't made up of a father and a mother married together? I know many, many families that are made up of divorced or widowed parents, where a child might actually end up having one mother and two father's because of it or perhaps two mothers and one dad due to new marriages. Then you have your single parents who might have family or friends to help them. For example I help my sister raise her daughter. We are two women raising her. I know my sister-in-law was raised by her mother and an aunt for a long time. Let alone the ones I know due to financial situations have more then one family living together and raising children. In these a child might have two mothers and two fathers due to them sharing the kids between them. Are these children deprived because of it? I don't think so. What matters is the love given and all the other basic needs a child needs. They can grow up to be happy and healthy just as one with a standard family unit. It doesn't matter if it's two mothers or two fathers. It's the unit together that is important.

Yes, it can be healthy for a child, as long as the couple are caring and loving, the same goes with straight couples, and single parents.

do you think it would be any different for a child just raised we her mother or her father, or her grandmother? I was raised by my grandmother so now it was not a mother or family. I don't believe that it matters so long as there is love and good values in the household.

I don't think it is right. That's how I feel though. i feel like kids need a mother and a father to raise them This way just seems really un normal and unhealthy for childern.

i think it is important, that there is love and caring. it doesnt matter who is raising a child. all is better than no parents or bad parents. the usual father /mother picture of a family is not usual in these times. here we have lots of one parents families. what i saw is, these kids from 2 dads or 2 moms are happy and healthy. they always have to tell some funny stories and they have no problems in having friends. it seems we have to redo the whole family thing and learn to accept, that there are more modules of families than only father and mother. thank you for this interesting question :-)

I honestly don't think that it is possible for a child to receive what they need when they have parents of the same gender. A child needs a mother and a father. I'm not trying to slander anyone either, I know exactly what you mean. But I do have to say that this type of lifestyle is wrong not because SheliaLee is saying it but because the Bible says it. If the Bible says it is wrong then I believe it is bad for a child to live in this type of home.

I don't think there's anything wrong with it, but let's say we're talking about 2 gay men raising a child together. I believe they can give a child just as much love as anyone, but they should select a female family member to be a female role model to the child. The same for a lesbian couple. There should be a male influence in the child's life as well. I say this because I was basically raised without a father, and it has seriously affected my life. I didn't really have any good examples growing up so I have no idea how to relate to men. I've made bad choices and have been married and divorced 3 times as a result.

I don`t think that, because The man is man and the women is wamen,Allah gave man different characteristics and women also.