Abstract
SYNOPSIS Objective. Families with trans parents are an increasingly visible family form, yet little is known about parenting and child outcomes in these families. This exploratory study offers the first quantitative assessment of parent–child relationship quality and child socio-emotional and behavioral adjustment in families with a self-identified trans parent with school-aged children. Design. A sample of 35 families (37 trans parents, 13 partners, and 25 children aged 8–18 years) was recruited primarily through social media. Parents, children, and teachers were administered a range of standardized interview and questionnaire assessments of parent–child relationship quality, quality of parenting, psychological adjustment, and gender-related minority stress. Results. Parents and children had good quality relationships, as assessed by both parents and children, and children showed good psychological adjustment. Child age at the time the parent communicated their gender identity to the child was unrelated to child outcomes. Conclusions. Parents and children in trans parent families had good quality relationships and children showed good psychological adjustment. The findings of this exploratory study challenge commonly held concerns about the potentially negative effects on children of growing up with a trans parent.
Highlights
The adult trans population in the United Kingdom is estimated at between 200,000 and 500,000 people (Government Equalities Office, 2018), with estimates in the United States of between 1 million and 1.4 million (Flores, Herman, Gates, & Brown, 2016; Meerwijk & Sevelius, 2017)
Higher parenting stress, and lower perceived social support together predicted higher levels of child adjustment problems. This exploratory study aimed to provide a quantitative assessment of parent– child relationship quality and child adjustment in families with trans parents, an understudied family type
The finding that parent–child relationships were of good quality in trans parent families is in line with the small literature in this area that found positive parent–child relationships between parents and school-aged and adult children (Chiland et al, 2013; Church et al, 2014; Veldorale-Griffin, 2014)
Summary
The adult trans population in the United Kingdom is estimated at between 200,000 and 500,000 people (Government Equalities Office, 2018), with estimates in the United States of between 1 million and 1.4 million (Flores, Herman, Gates, & Brown, 2016; Meerwijk & Sevelius, 2017). Of the adult trans population, between 25% and 49% of individuals are believed to be parents (Dierckx, Motmans, Mortelmans, & T’sjoen, 2016), yet little is known about family functioning in trans parent families. The adequacy of such terminology has been challenged (Aguirre-Sánchez-Beato, 2018), all terms used in the study in general (and in this article in particular) have been subject to consultation with two nonprofit organizations with experience of working with this population in the UK, and reflect the context in which this research was conducted
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