Study: Gay Dads Put Family Ahead of Careers.

This one come to us via Advocate.com, just in time for Fathers' Day.

A study involving 40 gay men who became parents via surrogacy found a few differences between their habits and those of straight fathers.

Four psychology researchers conducted the study, which looked at four issues for gay dads: work and career changes; lifestyle issues; couple, family, and friendship experiences; and self-esteem and self-care issues.

The findings, published in the latest issue of the Journal of GLBT Family Studies, showed that gay fathers were more likely to scale back their careers in order to care for their children. Another difference was that gay fathers also saw their self-esteem and relationships with their extended families greatly improve when they had children.

Other issues like relations with coworkers, a transition toward friendships with other couples, and less time for sleep, exercise, and hobbies were similar to heterosexual fathers.

The average age of the gay men in the study was 41, and most couples were affluent, with the average annual household income listed as $270,000.

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Study Shows Kids of Lesbian Moms Do Better

Time Magazine reports this week that a just-released study on same-sex parenting shows that kids raised by lesbian moms are better adjusted than kids in hetero homes. Researchers have known for some time that children raised by gay parents are no worse off psychologically than their peers raised in traditionally parented homes, but this is the first time that a study has shown that kids raised by lesbians do better. Time reports:

The authors found that children raised by lesbian mothers — whether the mother was partnered or single — scored very similarly to children raised by heterosexual parents on measures of development and social behavior. These findings were expected, the authors said; however, they were surprised to discover that children in lesbian homes scored higher than kids in straight families on some psychological measures of self-esteem and confidence, did better academically and were less likely to have behavioral problems, such as rule-breaking and aggression.

"We simply expected to find no difference in psychological adjustment between adolescents reared in lesbian families and the normative sample of age-matched controls," says Gartrell. "I was surprised to find that on some measures we found higher levels of [psychological] competency and lower levels of behavioral problems. It wasn't something I anticipated."

In addition, children in same-sex-parent families whose mothers ended up separating, did as well as children in lesbian families in which the moms stayed together.

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The Rev.'s niece is featured on today's MTV Teen Cribs

UPDATE: This just in via the Family Grapevine. MTV Teen Cribs has bumped the episode featuring my niece to next Tuesday, Nov. 24th.

I got the word a few days ago, that my beautiful niece, Carlie will be the subject of this afternoon's MTV Teen Cribs, the show that tours the cool homes where all the cool kids love to hang. (Check local listings.)

My gorgeous Interior Designer/Event Planner sister, Betsy and her Landscape Architect husband, Chuck designed and built the Mediterranean-style manse from scratch. Formal French gardens with fountains, reflecting pools and statuary surround their Northern Virginia home, where they often host weddings, fundraisers and other events. The interior features authentic antique collectibles and artwork from the south of France, but still maintains a very comfortable, homey feel. I hope you'll check it out, if you get the chance.

Congratulations, Carlie! You rock!

My sister and brother-in-law have a website for their business, which features a video tour of some of the work they've done. Some of the footage includes shots of their own gardens. It will give you an idea of their style.