I like Rosie O'Donnell. She

seems like a very nice person. She's funny, down-to-earth, self-effacing

and altruistic. I admire her commitment to breast cancer research and

children's charities. But I worry about her kids.

Last month on ABC's Primetime,

Rosie "came out" and admitted that she is a lesbian. She spoke

lovingly about the three children she has adopted and is raising with

her lesbian partner, Kelli Carpenter. She also had harsh words for the

state of Florida, which prevents homosexuals from adopting children. The

Primetime special also profiled two gay Florida men who are unable to

legally adopt their three foster children. Rosie has joined the American

Civil Liberties Union in their battle to challenge Florida's law.

Rosie's crusade on behalf of

same-sex parents is certain to re-ignite the public policy debate on this

issue. Many Americans will no doubt be moved by the stories of homosexual

couples who have adopted "unwanted" children. Their hearts will

be swayed by media images of smiling children in cozy homes, apparently

thriving with their gay or lesbian "parents." But what will

happen to these children? What kind of psychological effects, if any,

will they experience as adults?

The American Academy of Pediatrics

(AAP) weighed in on this issue in February. An eight-member executive

committee of the AAP wholeheartedly endorsed same-sex parenting, claiming

that children raised by homosexuals do just as well as children whose

parents are heterosexual.

The committee's recommendations

ignited a firestorm of protest among the AAP membership. America's rank-and-file

pediatricians have overwhelmingly condemned the committee's report, challenging

its assumptions and criticizing the committee's research as "seriously

flawed." Some pediatricians have pulled out of the organization,

and many others are threatening to.

These physicians point out

that studies on homosexual parenting suffer from numerous methodological

problems, including inadequate sample size, biased sample selection, lack

of proper control groups and the failure to account for confounding variables.

So what do we really know about

the effects of homosexual parenting on children? To date, not much. This

is mainly due to the fact that this is a relatively new social phenomenon,

and comprehensive longitudinal research is not available.

On the other hand, hundreds

of research studies demonstrate conclusively that children need both a

mother and a father. Compared to children from single-parent homes, children

from married, heterosexual homes do better physically, mentally and academically;

they experience less poverty and commit fewer crimes.

Why do children do better with

a mom and a dad? Sociologist David Popenoe of Rutgers University has done

extensive research on the different functions mothers and fathers play

in their children's lives. He has found that while fathers tend to stress

competition, challenge, initiative and risk-taking, mothers stress emotional

security and personal safety. When disciplining, mothers provide important

flexibility and sympathy, while fathers provide predictability and consistency.

A few disturbing facts are

known about children who are raised by homosexuals. These children are

more likely to experience gender and sexual confusion; they are more apt

to become promiscuous; they are at greater risk of losing a parent to

AIDS, substance abuse or suicide; and they are more likely to engage in

homosexual activity as teenagers and young adults.

What will happen to Rosie's

kids, Parker, age 6, Chelsea, 4, and Blake, 2? It's hard to say; Primetime

failed to interview any adults who were raised by homosexuals. This is

unfortunate, as it would have provided us with a more complete picture.

Perhaps the producers should

have interviewed Jakkii Edwards or Suzanne Cook. Edwards was raised by

a lesbian mother who often had sex with her partner in the same bed as

Edwards and her little brother.

In her book "Like Mother,

Like Daughter?" she chronicles the sexual confusion and abuse she

suffered as a child, as well as her struggle with sexual addiction as

an adult.

Cook, whose father was gay,

describes an anguished childhood in which her father refused to affirm

her femininity and told her he was "repulsed" by the female

body. She recounts that as a teenager, she and her father were often attracted

to the same young men, and describes how her brother was sexually abused

As we debate the merits of

homosexual parenting in this country, let us not lose sight of the critical

issue the emotional and physical welfare of children. While Rosie O'Donnell

and the ACLU argue about the "rights" of homosexuals, they sadly

ignore the rights of innocent, vulnerable children. A decade from now

we may learn that these kids were the unfortunate victims of a failed

social experiment.

[William J. Maier, Psy.D.,

is a child and family psychologist and serves as psychologist in residence

at Focus on the Family in Colorado Springs, Colo.]