Study finds gay fathers exhibit both maternal and paternal instincts

Researchers in Israel have found that gay fathers tend to turn into “super dads” by displaying both feminine and masculine parental roles as needed. Their results differ from heterosexuals in interesting ways:

Heterosexual mothers tended to watch for emotional triggers in their infants, which when the child was left alone with the mother, the mother’s amygdala (emotional brain structure) was at a five times higher activity rate than at baseline.

Heterosexual fathers watch their child for activity, and their cognition circuits were much higher when left with their children. This says that heterosexual men are looking for cues, non-verbal and verbal, that their child needs their attention.

When left alone with their children, gay men are found to have both heightened emotional cues and heightened cognitive circuits which has been found to be optimal for parenting. Of course, this is not the only way to be a good parent, and the study does find that mens’ minds tend to be more plastic, so the more time spent caring for the child, the stronger the emotional bond.

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