Children of gay and lesbian parents have the same potential as other children, even if they live in a nontraditional home, a growing trend in America. Same-sex families face many challenges such as discrimination based on parents' sexual orientation. People who do not support same-sex marriage or same-sex parenting believe that the child will not be raised in a stable home. Numerous studies have confirmed that a parent's sexual orientation does not strongly influence a child's academic performance or social behavior. Although some people believe that a male "father" and a female "mother" are necessary in the home to provide the best possible environment for raising a child, there is no empirical evidence demonstrating that children of same-sex parents are raised in an unhealthy environment. Traditional, stereotypical households are no longer the norm, so individuals must accept that children can develop normally in non-traditional households. Children of same-sex couples, despite being raised in different homes than their heterosexual counterparts, excel just as easily in the social and academic spheres of life. In order to understand the differences between heterosexual and homosexual households, it is important to understand what the same -sexual couples go through to start a family and the children they usually adopt. Gay and lesbian parents have several ways to start a family. Significant amounts of data are provided on couples who have adopted, as well as lesbian mothers who have used donor insemination to have a child. General data from these types of households "indicate that children in these households, at all stages of development, are similar to their peers raised in heterosexual households with respect to...... middle of article. ..... 2014.Linville, Deanna and Maya O'Neil. “Same-sex parents and their children. » American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy. Np, and Web. March 2, 2014.https://www.aamft.org/>.Patterson, Charlotte J.. “Children of Lesbian and Gay Parents: Psychology, Law and Politics.” » American Psychologist 64.8 (2009): 727-734. Premier Academic Research. Internet. February 22, 2014. Rosenfeld, Michael J., “Nontraditional Families and Childhood Progress through School.” Demography 47.3 (2010): 755-775. JSTOR. Internet. February 22, 2014. Stacey, Judith and Timothy J. Biblarz. “(How) does parental sexual orientation matter? » American Sociological Review 66.2 (2001): 159-183. JSTOR. Internet. March 10, 2014. Wardle, Lynn D. “The Potential Impact of Same-Sex Parenting on Children.” » University of Illinois Law Review 833 (1997): 1-82. Internet. March 10. 2014. .