彩虹家庭的現身：家長與子女表現的整合分析

The Coming-Out of Rainbow Families: A Meta-Analysis of Outcomes for Parents and Offspring

同性伴侶經營家庭（簡稱彩虹家庭），從過往社會中的極少數，到現今挑戰不同社會對於家庭規範與法律保障的局限性。在多國通過婚姻平權法案之後，同性伴侶擁有人工生殖與領養的權利，使其家庭樣態更加多元。過往整合分析研究者發現彩虹家庭的家庭功能、家長與子女的表現，和異性伴侶家庭（簡稱預設型態家庭）一樣好，但未能檢視研究與樣本特性對於兩類家庭比較結果的影響，尚有不足。此外，即使多國已通過婚姻平權法案，許多學者和民眾仍有刻板印象（如，男性能否稱職養育子女？）或疑慮（如，異性伴侶家庭的優勢在小孩年紀較長時才出現？）。本文以量化整合分析方法，比較彩虹家庭與預設型態家庭的家庭功能、家長和子女表現，重複驗證兩類家庭型態一樣好的結論。此外，本文回答過往的實徵研究與整合分析無法回答的問題：同性伴侶父親的表現與同性伴侶母親一樣好，亦與預設型態家庭的表現一樣好。本文亦發現，人工生殖或領養的家庭功能兩類家庭大致相仿；子女的種族比例與家庭功能、家長和子女的表現無關；隨著年齡增長，彩虹家庭子女的認知表現與自我評估會越來越好。文中並深入探討家庭功能、家長與子女表現的促進因子與危險因子。

Same-sex families were once considered an anomaly, but they have now become a force which challenges norms and demands legal protections for alternative families. After the passage of marriage equality legalization in various countries, same-sex couples have gained the rights to artificial impregnation and adoption, thus diversifying same-sex families. According to previous meta-analyses, overwhelming similarities between same-sex and different-sex families were observed; however, the lack of evaluation of the variation in the effect sizes has limited the contributions of these studies. In addition, even though legal protections for same-sex families have been offered in various societies, stereotypes (e.g., could men be good caretakers?) and concerns (e.g., perhaps the advantages of different-sex families would be apparent when toddlers grow up) still exist. This article utilizes a quantitative meta-analysis to compare same-sex and different-sex families in terms of family functions, and outcomes for parents and offspring. This research replicates the findings in previous meta-analyses. There is virtually no difference between these two types of families. Extending previous findings, same-sex fathers are as good as same-sex mothers and different-sex parents. Examining children born via insemination or adoption also demonstrates similarities in same-sex and different-sex families. Children's racial composition does not moderate family functions or outcomes for the parents and their offspring in the two types of families. The age of the offspring matters only in the case of a couple of indicators. When the children grow older, children in same-sex families perform better in cognitive evaluations and selfevaluations than children in different-sex families. The above findings are consistent with the previous research consensus that parental sexual identity has little effect on family functions, or on outcomes for parents and children. I will further discuss potential facilitating and risk factors for family functions and outcomes for parents and their offspring.