Lesbian Parents Research Articles

Are the Kids Alright? Rawls, Adoption, and Gay Parents

Scholars have extensively debated the family’s place within liberalism, generally, and specific attention and critique has been given to the family in Rawls’ work. What has received less focus are the requirements of parents in a Rawlsian polity and, further, what those requirements might imply for the one case where states explicitly regulate the process of becoming parents: adoption. This paper seeks to discover what might be required of parents, adoptive or otherwise, in a Rawlsian social contract state. Second, it considers adoptive parent selection in light of these requirements as well as Rawls’ arguments regarding merit and fair equality of opportunity. Finally, it considers what such a merit-based selection of adoptive parents implies for the disputed rights of same-sex couples to adopt children. Further, because the question of merit in this case will hinge upon what it means to be a “fit parent,” it also draws upon relevant empirical social science studies regarding gay and lesbian parents. The paper, then, evaluates both the theoretical and empirical validity of generalized claims that same-sex couples are less fit to be parents than are heterosexual couples.

Heterosexual Parents of Gay and Lesbian Individuals: Social Interaction Issues

This article, using data from published research, reports, clinical articles, case studies, and autobiographical accounts, aims to analyze difficulties in social interactions of heterosexual parents of gay male individuals or lesbians (PGLs) with others, after the same‐gender sexual orientation disclosure. The others include PGLs' children, relatives, friends, acquaintances, and strangers. The article proposes a new model including ambiguity, hostility, and privacy concerns as key dimensions of the PGL social interaction experiences, and it notes relationship implications.

Before the Bride Really Wore Pink

Before the Bride Really Wore Pink

Production, circulation and deconstruction of gender norms in LGBTQ speech practices

This paper investigates interdiscursivity in talk about gender norms in the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer (LGBTQ) community. Drawing from field work conducted among gay and lesbian parents, transgender people, and the Drag King community, I show how accounts like les hommes sont comme ça (‘Men are like that’) or les femmes sont comme ça (‘Women act that way’) emerging in discourse about pregnancy reveal gender-based norms and their relationship to social conditions. Adopting a linguistic anthropology perspective, while paying particular attention to agency, categorization, circulation, and recontextualization processes, I show how gender norms are constructed and deconstructed through interactional, semantic, and morphosyntactic patterns found in a variety of multisemiotic mediums (e.g. texts, multiparty conversations and forum exchanges, images) and in a diversity of contexts. In addition to its contribution to the study of gender and language, this article takes new steps in the ongoing development of membership categorization analysis and queer linguistics.

The Real Modern Family … Can Be Real Complicated

The author describes, based upon her first-hand experience, running a program providing services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) parents, families, and their extended families; some of the complexities of gay parenting; and some of the unique challenges faced by LGBT families. Throughout this paper, she notes the relevant roles mental health providers may occupy in assisting such families.

How long in the wilderness?Australian lesbian parents and social policy reform

Australian social policy and legislation in relation to gay men, lesbians and their families have been ‘revolutionized’ over recent years. Between 2008 and 2010 alone we have seen an incredible 84 separate pieces of legislation amended to recognize same sex relationships in Commonwealth legislation. For some rights activists, these reforms have been too long coming but for others they have created real disquiet about the way they position non-heterosexual relationships. This article draws on qualitative interviews undertaken with lesbian women who parent in New South Wales, Australia. Two waves of interviews are drawn on, the first occurring prior to Australian government reforms and the second after the reforms. The interviews provide an insight into the lived experiences of social policy reforms, highlighting how these women weigh up and reconcile legal recognition. These women’s experiences remind us again of the limitations of legal reform to bring about social or cultural change, particularly in the context of neo-liberalism. This paper seeks to ask what is the nature of this ‘revolution’ and, why now?

What Will They Call You? Rhetorically Listening to Lesbian Maternal Narratives

This article examines maternal narratives by lesbian, nonbiological co-parents published in the last decade and explains problems of recognition, wherein claims of identity are challenged, for lesbian parents whose partners give birth. These women encounter a discursive gap since no default term exists for their familial role. Applying Burke's theory of identification and Ratcliffe's rhetorical listening model illuminates how legal and social problems of recognition disempower lesbian co-mothers. The author concludes that narratives written by lesbian co-parents function as socio-discursive ways of affirming motherhood outside heterosexist norms and signify one additional way scholars must continue to attend to meaningful silences.

Gender-Typed Play Behavior in Early Childhood: Adopted Children with Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents

This study examined whether the gender-typed play of young children varies as a function of family structure. Using a sample of 126 couples (44 lesbian couples, 34 gay male couples, and 48 heterosexual couples) located throughout the United States, with an adopted child between the age of 2 and 4 years old (mean = 2.5 years), we examined parent reports of children's gender-typed play behavior utilizing the Pre-School Activities Inventory (PSAI; Golombok & Rust, 1993). Findings revealed that the perceived play behaviors of boys and girls in same-gender parent families were more similar (i.e., less gender-stereotyped) than the perceived play behavior of boys and girls in heterosexual-parent families (which were more divergent; that is, gender-stereotyped). Sons of lesbian mothers were less masculine in their play behavior than sons of gay fathers and sons of heterosexual parents. Our findings have implications for researchers who study gender development in children and adolescents.

ACHESS – The Australian study of child health in same-sex families: background research, design and methodology

BackgroundThere are an increasing number of children in Australia growing up with same-sex attracted parents. Although children from same-sex parent families do in general perform well on many psychosocial measures recent research is beginning to consider some small but significant differences when these children are compared with children from other family backgrounds. In particular studies suggest that there is an association between the stigma that same-sex parent families experience and child wellbeing. Research to date lacks a holistic view with the complete physical, mental and social wellbeing of children not yet addressed. In addition, most studies have focused only on families with lesbian parents and have studied only small numbers of children.Methods/designThe Australian Study of Child Health in Same-Sex Families (ACHESS) is a national study that aims to determine the complete physical, mental and social wellbeing of Australian children under the age 18 years with at least one parent who self identifies as being same-sex attracted. There will be a particular focus on the impact that stigma and discrimination has on these families. Parent and child surveys will be used to collect data and will be available both online and in paper form. Measures have been chosen whenever possible that have sound conceptual underpinnings, robust psychometric properties and Australian normative data, and include the Child Health Questionnaire (CHQ), the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10).DiscussionACHESS aims to be the largest study of its kind and will for the first time produce a detailed quantitative analysis of Australian children with same-sex attracted parents. By inviting participants to take part in further research it will also establish a valuable cohort of children, and their families, to launch future waves of research that will help us better understand the health and wellbeing of children with same-sex attracted parents.

Lesbian and gay parenting: securing social and educational capital – Edited by Yvette Taylor

Lesbian and gay parenting: securing social and educational capital – Edited by Yvette Taylor

The Division of Labor in Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual New Adoptive Parents

Little research has investigated the division of child care and housework in adoptive or lesbian/gay parent families, yet these contexts “control for” family characteristics such as biological relatedness and parental gender differences known to be linked to family work. This study examined predictors (measured preadoption) of the division of child care and housework (measured postadoption) in lesbian (n = 55), gay (n = 40), and heterosexual (n = 65) newly adoptive couples. Same‐sex couples shared child care and housework more equally than heterosexual couples. For the full sample, inequities in work hours between partners were associated with greater discrepancies in partners' contributions to child care and masculine tasks; inequities in income between partners were related to greater discrepancies in contributions to feminine tasks. Participants who contributed more to child care tended to contribute more to feminine tasks. These findings extend knowledge of how labor arrangements are enacted in diverse groups.

A Respectable Scandal: Same-Sex Parenthood, Emotional Dynamics, and Social Change

Most of the scholarship and current literature on parental care focuses on its gendered costs and unbalances. Less attention is paid to the consequences of being excluded from this specific type of care—what we could call the right to parent. Gay and lesbian parents claiming their right to parent represents a momentous historical change: the increasing visibility of these parents is one of the most important components of such change. Emotional dynamics are key to this social change. Emotions constitute the link between doing parenting at the micro level of interactions and doing, or undoing, difference at the macro level of social structures; similarly, different ways to do parenting and to do gender must be taken into account if we want to grasp a truly comprehensive picture of the phenomenon of parenthood. This article draws on a wider study on different kinds of care and caregivers, whose aim is to offer a more inclusive interpretation and a more reliable discourse on family care and parenthood. Parenthood is still societally significant, but different ways to attain parenthood (biologically, through adoption, surrogacy, etc.) or to be a parent (single or in a couple, gay or heterosexual, married or unmarried, etc.) seem to mark a more important difference. While such difference can translate into inequality, this is now being challenged by these increasingly more visible parents. Our findings show that the divide between the categories of “parents” and “non-parents” dissolves the divide between the categories of “gay/lesbian” and “non-gay/lesbian.” Gay and lesbian parents produce social change by taking the sexuality out of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) politics in the mainstream arena. Same-sex parenthood may still be perceived by many as a “scandal,” but more and more as a respectable one.

Childless Lesbian and Gay Adults’ Self-Efficacy About Achieving Parenthood

Lesbian and gay people are much less likely than others to become parents, and psychological factors may contribute to this difference. We explored self-efficacy about becoming a parent among geographically diverse, childless, lesbian and gay U.S. residents aged 18 to 44 years (N = 1,098). On average, participants reported that they were uncertain whether they could overcome financial barriers to parenthood or become biological parents without assistance from reproductive health providers. However, they were somewhat optimistic about overcoming barriers to adoptive and foster parenthood, and they were optimistic that they could somehow achieve parenthood if they wanted. Participants who were younger, who reported that children with lesbian or gay parents enjoy positive outcomes, and who lived in social climates favorable for members of sexual minorities reported the highest self-efficacy about achieving parenthood. These results contribute to understanding of family formation among sexual minority adults.

Adult Children of Gay and Lesbian Parents

Previous scholars have explored various challenges facing children of gay and lesbian individuals, and some have explored the impact of a parent's sexual orientation on the parent-child relationship. However, the impact of religion on the parent-child relationships of adult children with a gay or lesbian parent has been overlooked. In this study, 10 adult children with both a gay or lesbian parent and a heterosexual parent were interviewed and asked to retrospectively explore how religion impacted their parent-child relationships. The following themes emerged from phenomenological analysis of the interviews: (a) family break-up more difficult than the parents' coming out; (b) discovery that parent was gay or lesbian; (c) initial shame over having gay or lesbian parent; (d) positive aspects of having a gay or lesbian parent; (e) redefined relationship with religion; and (f) impact of culture on how gay and lesbian individuals are viewed.

The well-being of children with gay and lesbian parents

The articles by Loren Marks and Mark Regnerus provide useful opportunities for readers to think about the current state of research on children with gay and lesbian parents. These articles raise two sets of issues. One involves the scientific status of research on this topic, and the other involves concerns about law, social policy, and civil rights. My comments focus on both sets of issues, beginning with the former. (Disclosure: I served for 2 days as a paid consultant on the design of the New Family Structures Study. I did so because I think that new research on gay and lesbian families, as well as other alternative family structures, should be encouraged.)

Same-sex parenting and children’s outcomes: A closer examination of the American psychological association’s brief on lesbian and gay parenting

In 2005, the American Psychological Association (APA) issued an official brief on lesbian and gay parenting. This brief included the assertion: “Not a single study has found children of lesbian or gay parents to be disadvantaged in any significant respect relative to children of heterosexual parents” (p. 15). The present article closely examines this assertion and the 59 published studies cited by the APA to support it. Seven central questions address: (1) homogeneous sampling, (2) absence of comparison groups, (3) comparison group characteristics, (4) contradictory data, (5) the limited scope of children’s outcomes studied, (6) paucity of long-term outcome data, and (7) lack of APA-urged statistical power. The conclusion is that strong assertions, including those made by the APA, were not empirically warranted. Recommendations for future research are offered.

What can we learn from studies of children raised by gay or lesbian parents?

The papers by Loren Marks and Mark Regnerus, in tandem, provide a challenge to the broad scholarly consensus that children raised by gay or lesbian parents suffer no deficits. Let me be clear, these papers do not prove anything. Instead they offer reasonable arguments for (1) more caution when drawing strong conclusions based on the available science; and (2) that data based on probability samples might lead to different findings than are currently drawn from available data.

IN THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE (SILENCED) CHILD

The rhetoric of the ‘best interests of the child’ frequently emerges in public and political debates concerning the changing nature of family and society. This article explores how the rhetoric was invoked in recent same-sex marriage debates in Australia. We analyse the public submissions to the 2009 Australian government inquiry into same-sex marriage to reveal the ways in which the abstract figure of ‘the child’ was deployed. It became evident that heteronormativity was privileged and upheld primarily through the discourse of children's best interests. Concern about the well-being of children raised by lesbian and gay parents was the pivotal argument by those who opposed same-sex marriage. Heteronormativity was reproduced through the claim that same-sex parenting is harmful to children and thus heterosexuality was positioned as the only ‘safe’ place for parenting. A small number of the submissions in support of same-sex marriage also based their arguments on the best interests of the child. Typically, these submissions positioned lesbian and gay parents as ‘just like’ heterosexual parents and in doing so they produced an idealised homonormative couple. This unwittingly reinforces heterosexuality through the construction of an ‘acceptable’ domesticated homosexuality, based on adherence to heteronormativity, which effectively marginalises other family forms and sexual behaviours. We argue that the rhetorical power of the ‘best interests’ argument relies on the absence of the voices of actual children raised by lesbian and gay parents and that this silencing has harmful consequences for these children.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Parents Seeking Health Care for Their Children: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Few studies have examined the issues faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)-parented families in relation to their access to and satisfaction with healthcare services for their children. It is thought that LGBT individuals have experienced negative interactions with the healthcare environment. To systematically review the literature investigating the experience of LGBT parents seeking health care for their children. A search of the following databases: Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, Medline, PsychInfo, Science Direct, Sociological Abstracts, Proquest, Scopus, and Web of Science was conducted. Using the PRISMA flow chart and processes of the United Kingdom Centre for Reviews and Dissemination, we selected and analysed relevant studies. Four studies that met the inclusion criteria were identified. Studies showed that while the experience of LGBT parents seeking health care was largely positive, strategies need to be implemented to improve the quality of healthcare services for LGBT families and ensure that their needs are met. Although many LGBT parents have positive experiences of health care, some still experience discrimination and prejudice. Specific educational interventions are needed to support LGBT parents seeking health care for their children. Further research is required to explore LGBT-parented families' experiences of healthcare services, and this should include children's experiences.

Anticipation of the sexual and gender development of children adopted by same‐sex couples

The present study aimed to characterize beliefs surrounding the sexual and gender development of children adopted by lesbian and gay couples. Participants were 768 Portuguese university students. Using a quasiexperimental design, participants were presented with identical descriptions of a couple interested in adopting a child, manipulating couple sexual orientation and child gender. Participants were then asked to anticipate three aspects of the sexual and gender development of the adopted child: sexual orientation, gender role behavior, and gender identity. MANOVAs and follow-up ANOVAs were conducted in order to analyze the data. Results indicated that participants, particularly males, considered children adopted by either lesbian or gay couples to have a lower probability of developing a normative sexual and gender identity than children adopted by heterosexual couples. Both men and women considered that children would emulate the sexual orientation of their same-sex parents, and that a boy's gender role behavior was more at risk if he was adopted by a lesbian couple. Moreover, men were apprehensive about the gender role behavior of a boy adopted by a gay male couple. Overall, these results indicate persistence of biased evaluations of the sexual and gender development of children adopted by lesbian and gay parents. Furthermore, both gender of the participant and gender of the child play an important role in these evaluations. Results are discussed and interpreted as a way of "doing gender" in the context of hegemonic masculinity.