Gay Father Families Research Articles

Adoptive gay father families: parent-child relationships and children's psychological adjustment.

Findings are presented on a U.K. study of 41 gay father families, 40 lesbian mother families, and 49 heterosexual parent families with an adopted child aged 3–9 years. Standardized interview and observational and questionnaire measures of parental well-being, quality of parent–child relationships, child adjustment, and child sex-typed behavior were administered to parents, children, and teachers. The findings indicated more positive parental well-being and parenting in gay father families compared to heterosexual parent families. Child externalizing problems were greater among children in heterosexual families. Family process variables, particularly parenting stress, rather than family type were found to be predictive of child externalizing problems. The findings contribute to theoretical understanding of the role of parental gender and parental sexual orientation in child development.

Wanted Fathers: Understanding Gay Father Families through Contextual Family Therapy

This conceptual paper is concerned with the application of Contextual Family Therapy to gay father families (Boszormenyi-Nagy & Krasner, 1986). Gay fathers experience social and sexual stigma as a result of being both gay and male caregivers of children. Concurrently, much of family theory and therapy is laden with heteronormative assumptions and biases. However, after reviewing several studies that highlighted the activist nature of parenthood for gay fathers, Contextual Family Therapy social justice concepts of entitlement, loyalty, and legacy are offered as a new paradigm for understanding gay father families. Contextual Family Therapy therefore may frame how gay father families enact constructive entitlements for creating families that bend gender stereotypes about gay men (and men in general) as caregivers while remaining flexible and inclusive of adopted and fostered children. The professional implications discussed include suggestions for the therapeutic applications of Contextual Family Therapy with gay father families.

Planned Gay Father Families in Kinship Arrangements

The current study examined whether there are differences between gay father families (n = 36) and heterosexual families (n = 36) on father‐child relationship, fathers' experiences of parental stress and children's wellbeing. The gay fathers in this study all became parents while in same‐sex relationships. They donated sperm to lesbian couples and then shared the child‐rearing with them in kinship arrangements. It was also examined whether aspects that are related specifically to gay fathers (i.e., experiences of rejection, having to defend their family situation, with whom the children live, and conflicts with the children's mothers) are also related to the father‐child relationship, parental stress and children's wellbeing. Data were collected by means of questionnaires filled in by the fathers. No significant differences between the family types were found on emotional involvement and parental concern in the father‐child relationship, parental burden (as an aspect of parental stress) or the children's wellbeing. However, gay fathers felt less competent in their child‐rearing role than heterosexual fathers. For gay fathers especially, experiences of rejection and the feeling that they have to defend their situation were significantly related to father‐child relationship, parental stress and children's wellbeing.

Planned Gay Father Families in Kinship Arrangements

A response to Henny Bos's report on planned gay father families discusses the issue from a practitioner's viewpoint. The author suggests how practitioners may tackle the sensitive issue of gay parenthood.

Children of the new reproductive technologies: Social and genetic parenthood

Objective To review empirical studies on families created by new reproductive technologies (NRT) in which only one parent has a genetic link to the child. Methodology Literature search was conducted among computerized databases. Inclusion criteria were that studies should focus on childrearing or parenting, as well as on the psychological adjustment of children in: heterosexual families formed through artificial insemination with donated semen (AID), single-mother AID families, oocyte-donation families, planned lesbian-mother families, planned gay-father families, and partial surrogacy families. Results Compared to natural-conception parents, parents in these NRT families have better relationships with their children, and their children are functioning well. Conclusion Although several studies show that parents in NRT families are more emotionally involved in their parenting than are parents in naturally conceived families, no empirical evidence was found that the psychological adjustment of children in NRT families differs from that of their counterparts in natural-conception families. Practical implication The results inform counselors and infertile couples that concerns regarding the use of NRT in relation to negative consequences for the parent–child relationship or the psychological adjustment of the child are till now unfounded.