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I was randomly asked yesterday, "Can a homosexual couple raise a normal child?" First of all, this raises many technical issues, such as what constitutes normalcy. But while you think on that one, let me share my initial response.

I was born into a heterosexual household. Around my third or fourth year in this world, my heterosexually-paired, biological parents divorced. My mother gained custody. Soon after and until my early teenage years, I was part of her homosexual AND interracial experience. Nothing was abnormal about it. I had breakfast on the table in the mornings before school. We went on vacation, got candy at the store, had a few pets over the years, and we three loved one another. I played softball, was on a youth bowling team, went to school dances, and got grounded by both women. We woke up to gifts from Santa on Christmas morning, had snowball fights, ate Thanksgiving dinner (and had plenty of leftovers!) with my grandparents, went trick-or-treating, and had loving family. I learned about respect, responsibility, love, self-esteem, inner strength, and even money skills during this period of my life. I lived warmly, satisfied, in good health, well. Their parenting had nothing to do with their sexual preference at the time. They just genuinely loved me and wanted the best for me. And that's all it takes. The only insecurity I had about the two being together was, "What will my friends think when I bring them to my house?" Eventually, living through this was one of my greatest life lessons, because it exposed those of my friends who were not true and who were not independent, equality-driven thinkers. Even if I hadn't learned anything from my insecurity, imagine what else that pitfall could have been replaced with that it was not: poverty, neglect, never hearing "I love you.".... the list goes on.

Homosexual relationships have no more tendency to produce "abnormal" children than heterosexual relationships. Primarily, the child will become who he or she becomes because of the relationship each parent has with the child. Of course, if the relationship is abusive or problems between the parents are put on display at all times in the household, disabilities, confusion, and resentment may arise. There are also different parenting styles that work for different children. Genetics-the child's biological predispositions-has a lot to do with a child's "normalcy", as well. The proverbial list of what could transpire to cause the kid to be "normal" or not yet again goes on.

I'm not trying to make a stand for an under-appreciated want within the homosexual nation to foster children, because it's not just something to be appreciated. It's something more to me. To successfully raised a productive part of society is something some people live for. It's not something most people turn to for a couple years and then decide they just really can't do it anymore. Parenting is a serious lifestyle choice just like sexual preference. The former should not depend on the latter, especially when there are so many needy children in our country and even more outside of our country.

Learn more about this author, Jessica Welch.
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