Gay Parents Research Articles

The desire for more children among Israeli lesbian, gay, and heterosexual couples who became parents through assisted reproduction.

The present online questionnaire-based study compared 72 lesbian mothers by donor insemination (within 36 families), 78 gay fathers by gestational surrogacy (within 39 families), and 72 heterosexual parents by assisted reproduction (without donated eggs and/or sperm; within 36 families), on their desire to have more children and their ideal number of children. All participants self-identified as cisgender, lived in Israel, and had a mean number of two children. The study also explored the predictors of participants' desire for more children. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that, when participants' actual number of children was controlled for, lesbian and gay parents did not differ from heterosexual parents on their desire for more children and their ideal number of children. Parents' younger age, greater positivity, and lower attribution of responsibility to children for misbehavior, in addition to a lower discrepancy between their actual and ideal number of children, were associated with greater desire for more children. The results suggest that lesbian and gay parenthood may mark an entrance to the Israeli familistic "mainstream," which, in turn, may decrease differences in parenthood aspirations as a function of sexual orientation. The study contributes to the scant literature on the desire for more than one child among parents in diverse family configurations. It further provides family researchers and policy makers with vital information on the most influential factors associated with the desire for more children among lesbian, gay, and heterosexual parents. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Unfaithful: Love, Adultery, and Marriage Reform in Nineteenth-century America

Unfaithful: Love, Adultery, and Marriage Reform in Nineteenth-century America

How Do LGBTQ+ Parents Raise Well-Adjusted, Resilient, and Thriving Children?

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) parents raise well-adjusted children. How do they accomplish this feat despite stigma and discrimination? Psychological scholarship (often based in the United States and other Westernized countries) has typically used atheoretical, deficit models based on biased assumptions to compare the outcomes of children of LGBTQ+ parents and children of cisgender heterosexual parents. However, research on processes and socialization within LGBTQ+-parent families suggests that LGBTQ+ parents demonstrate flexibility, creativity, and intentionality, which are associated with children’s positive outcomes and resilience. We recommend moving from deficits-based, comparative approaches to intersectional, queer-theory-based, and strengths-based alternatives. We argue that this conceptual shift will generate new questions and thus new knowledge about the unique strengths of LGBTQ+ parenting that positively influence children’s development. Such findings may provide insights about parenting practices and ways to support effective parenting that could benefit all children and families.

Health and equity: Venezuela’s and Brazil’s public health policies aimed at the LGBTQ+ population

Abstract Background Public health policies aimed at the LGBTQ+ population within Latin America have been a theme of discussion among policymakers, governments, and society. Latin America’s conservative idiosyncrasy has delayed advances in this regard. A common factor has been inequity and difficulty in access to healthcare institutions by LGBTQ+ groups. Despite some improvements in some regions, there are still huge gaps between neighboring countries as in the case of Brazil and Venezuela. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the existence and implementation of health policies aimed to improve the health equity of the LGBTQ+ population in both countries. Methods Scoping review in international journal databases and grey literature, such as official government websites, and NGOs reports. Results In Brazil, the “National Policy for comprehensive health of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender populations” was created in 2011. Nonetheless, its implementation encounters challenges. The main difficulties are: under budgeting, lack of training of healthcare personnel, and challenges in monitoring and assessing proposed health interventions. In Venezuela, till today there is a lack of institutional protective policies and health policies directed at this population. Some examples include the impossibility to rectify documents to reflect transgender people’s identity, adequate protection from the law against civilian violations, same-sex marriage, and legal conditions for children of same-sex parents. Conclusions The points presented above restrain satisfactory access to health care, positioning the LGBTQ+ population in a vulnerable setting, and making it a challenge to achieve health equity. In order to strengthen the health care systems in both countries, breakthrough measures need to be taken to assure fundamental human rights. Key messages • Venezuela lacks basic institutional protective policies aimed towards LGBTQ+ population, while Brazil has a National LGBT Health Policy. • Achieving health equity and assurance of rights to the LGBTQ+ population remains a challenge in both Brazil and Venezuela.

Sexualization of Children or Human Rights? Attitudes Toward Addressing Sexual-Orientation Diversity in School

ABSTRACT Lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) adolescents are more likely to experience mental health problems than their heterosexual peers because they are victimized more often or fear discrimination. Governmental plans to improve this situation by addressing sexual diversity in German schools have been accompanied by public resistance and misinformation, e.g., that they aim to sexualize children. The present study assessed how widespread negative attitudes toward such plans really are and how they can be explained. A random sample of 2,013 German residents was surveyed by phone. Only 10% opposed promoting acceptance of LGB in school. Approval of such plans was predominantly predicted by respondents’ beliefs about sexual orientation and the plans’ aim, and only marginally by societal values. Respondents who knew that the plans’ aim was to promote acceptance of LGB and not to sexualize children and that children with same-sex parents are just as well off as those with heterosexual parents showed higher approval, whereas respondents who believed that homosexuality is affected by socialization showed higher opposition.

"I'm Not Just the Nonbiological Parent": Encountering, Strategizing, and Resisting Asymmetry and Invalidation in Genetic/ Gestational Parent Status Among LGBTQ Parents.

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) families have expanded our understanding of who counts as family, to include legal as well as chosen ties. Yet, nonbiological parents in LGBTQ families are vulnerable to invalidation and erasure in social institutions, including health care, legal, and educational settings, where genetic and gestational linkages are privileged. The current study was guided by a queer phenomenological perspective to examine how LGBTQ parents experience and respond to dominant norms related to family relatedness and membership and thus queer the family. This mixed-methods study sampled 250 LGBTQ parents (including cisgender women and trans/nonbinary participants) to examine the question: In what ways does genetic asymmetry matter for families? The qualitative and quantitative analyses yielded three primary findings that revealed experiences of erasure and discrimination, as well as proactive strategies and active resistance used to counteract these difficulties. Themes were organized by (a) encountering marginalization and invalidation: health care, schools, and beyond; (b) strategic actions and discursive practices toward parental equality; and (c) confronting and resisting the need for legal, symbolic, and parenting strategies. This study documents ways in which nonbiological LGBTQ parents, in particular, embrace and resist societal norms for biological connectedness. Implications for nursing professionals include our finding that reproductive and perinatal contexts were particular sites of invalidation, necessitating education about the range of queer, nonbiological, and trans/nonbinary parents so that all parents are included in professional health care encounters.

Health Care Bias and Discrimination Experienced by Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Parents of Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Qualitative Inquiry in the United States

This study explored the impact of health care (HC) bias and discrimination on lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) parents and their children with disabilities in the United States, including the timing of developmental screening and diagnosis. We conducted semistructured interviews with 16 LGBTQ parents of children with developmental concerns or disabilities recruited through a prior national survey. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a combined inductive and deductive approach. Discrimination types reported included noninclusive forms, disclosure challenges, and providers dismissing nongestational parents and diverse families. Few parents reported screening and diagnosis delays. Parents' recommendations included: avoiding assumptions, honoring family diversity, increasing LGBTQ family support, improving HC forms, increasing antibias training, and convening a learning community. Our study advances the knowledge around HC bias and discrimination among LGBTQ parents of children with disabilities. Findings highlight the need for increased LGBTQ-affirming family support and research representing LGBTQ family diversity in U.S. health care.

Same-sex Marriage Legalization and the Stigmas of LGBT Co-parenting in Taiwan

In 2019, Taiwan became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Celebrated as a victory for global lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights, Taiwan’s 2019 law privileges marriage and biological parent-child ties as the foundation for LGBT family rights and (co-)parental recognition. This article contributes to sociolegal debates about the benefits and limitations of marriage equality by asking how restrictive legal approaches to legitimating LGBT parenthood may harm LGBT families, with consequences both for families ostensibly protected under the new laws and for those denied newly bestowed rights and protections. Drawing from legal and ethnographic research on Taiwan’s same-sex marriage law and the family formation strategies of Taiwanese LGBT parents, we interrogate how marriage equality interacts with related legal domains and prevailing stigmas of illegitimacy, adoption, and homosexuality in Taiwan. Encoded in, and reproduced through, the substance and implementation of law, these stigmas narrow the scope of legal rights and foster potentially discriminatory forms of recognition. The article shows how progressive laws may reduce LGBT family stigma for some, while also creating new stigma interactions that devalue diverse forms of LGBT parenthood.

The Social Experiences of Single Gay Fathers in Israel: An Intersectional Perspective.

Through an intersectional lens, this study explores the experience of being a single gay father by choice in Israeli society, which continues to view the traditional heterosexual two-parent family as the ideal. Analysis of 15 in-depth, semi-structured interviews with single gay Israeli fathers suggests that their experiences are characterized by constant tension between their self-perceived social acceptance and sense of belonging on the one hand and their encounters with discrimination and bias on the other. The findings shed light on the ways in which the fathers’ complex experiences are shaped by the intersection between their identity as parents and their two marginalized identities: single male parents and gay fathers. These identities were found to be highly contextual and affected by macro-level factors. As the fathers cope with their environment, they develop a sense of belonging alongside a deep sense of otherness, suggesting that the sense of belonging and the sense of otherness are not binary opposites, but rather two social categories that are continually constructed through the intersection between different identities and their interaction with macro-level factors, making single gay parenthood a multidimensional experience.

The Science of Children’s Religious and Spiritual Development

The Science of Children’s Religious and Spiritual Development

Parentage of Same-Sex Persons in the Jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union – Commentary to the Judgment of CJEU of 14.12.2021, C-490/20

Abstract In its judgment of 14 December 2021, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that in the case of a child who is a Union citizen and whose birth certificate, issued in the host Member State, designates as that child’s parents two persons of the same sex, the Member State of which that child is a national is obliged (i) to issue to that child an identity card or a passport without requiring a birth certificate to be drawn up beforehand by its national authorities, and (ii) to recognise the document from the host Member State that permits that child to exercise, with each of those two persons, the child’s right to move and reside freely within the EU territory. In its commentary, the author supports the CJEU ruling, observing that it continues the line of reasoning adopted in the Coman case of 2018. The Court attempts to strike a balance between the EU freedoms and the necessity to respect the national identity of Member States that are free to shape their family law without accepting the liberal concepts such us parentage of same-sex persons or homosexual marriages. Additionally, when wondering about the consequences of the ruling for Poland, the author puts forward a thesis that the current practice of Polish organs, resulting from the resolution of the Supreme Administrative Court of 2 December 2019, is consistent with the EU law. Although children of Polish nationality, with same-sex parents, cannot expect their foreign birth records to be transcribed into the civil status register in Poland, they may nevertheless obtain a Polish identity card or passport.

Le développement psychologique et sexuel des enfants de parents homosexuels

IntroductionMany studies that have assessed whether homosexual parenthood interferes with the psychological, cognitive and sexual development of children. It seems to emerge that growing up in a couple of same-sex parents does not interfere with the psychosexual development of children and that the possibility that children can become homosexual in the future does not depend on the sexual orientation of the parents. No difference was found in the incidence of homosexual future orientation between children of heterosexual parents and children born and raised in homosexual couples. Materials and methodsIn this preliminary study, a group of 112 children (mean age: 11.8) of homosexual parents living in a stable relationship with a same-sex partner were observed and examined. The following psycho diagnostic tools were used for the evaluation: spontaneous drawing, drawing of the human figure, drawing of the family, test of black images. The development of children's sexual identity was also assessed through the preferences and fantasies manifested by the following: during play, in the relationship with companions, in the type of preferred clothing. Interviews with children and parents also took place. Results and conclusionsAll children showed good adherence to their gender role. Being raised by a couple of same-sex parents does not compromise the child's future sexual orientation. However, sexual preference of these children may vary with adulthood as it is affected by future events and circumstances.

Sex-Specific Transmission of Anxiety Disorders From Parents to Offspring

Although anxiety disorders are known to run in families, the relative contribution of genes and environment is unclear. Patterns of sex-specific transmission of anxiety may point to different pathways in how parents pass anxiety disorders down to their children; however, the association of parent and offspring sex with the transmission of anxiety disorders has not been previously studied. To examine whether the transmission of anxiety from parents to children is sex specific. This cross-sectional family study recruited participants from the general population (enriched for familial risk of mood disorders) in Nova Scotia, Canada, from February 1, 2013, to January 31, 2020. Anxiety disorder in the same-sex or opposite-sex parent. Semistructured interviews were used to establish lifetime diagnoses of anxiety disorder in parents and offspring. The association between anxiety disorder in the same-sex or opposite-sex parent and anxiety disorders in the offspring was tested with logistic regression. A total of 398 offspring (203 female offspring with a mean [SD] age of 11.1 [3.7] years and 195 male offspring with a mean [SD] age of 10.6 [3.1] years) of 221 mothers and 237 fathers participated in the study. Anxiety disorders in the same-sex parent (odds ratio [OR], 2.85; 95% CI, 1.52-5.34; P = .001) were associated with increased rates of anxiety disorders in the offspring, whereas anxiety disorders in the opposite-sex parent (OR, 1.51; 95% CI, 0.81-2.81; P = .20) were not. Sharing a household with a same-sex parent without anxiety was associated with lower rates of offspring anxiety (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.22-0.67; P = .001), but the presence of an opposite-sex parent without anxiety was not (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.56-1.63; P = .88). In this cross-sectional study of families, an association between the same-sex parent's anxiety disorder and anxiety disorders in offspring suggests an environmental mechanism, such as modeling. Future studies should establish whether treating parents' anxiety may protect their children from developing an anxiety disorder.

Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parents’ Perspectives on Their Adopted Children’s Puberty and Approaches to Puberty-Related Communication

ABSTRACT This study explored how adoptive parents perceive their children’s adoptive status as impacting their experience of puberty, how they manage uncertainty associated with their children’s transition to puberty, and how they communicate with their children about puberty, using data from 60 adoptive parents, including lesbian mothers, gay fathers, and heterosexual mothers and fathers. Findings revealed that some parents used information gleaned from birth family, the adoption community, and pediatricians to reduce uncertainty associated with puberty. Parents, particularly lesbian/gay parents and parents of girls, described an open, progressively nuanced approach to communicating about puberty; other approaches included one-sided and information-oriented, avoidant and “hands off,” and delayed due to perceived lack of child “readiness.” Parents’ approach to puberty-related communication overlapped with how they conceptualized and approached communication about adoption.

KETAHANAN RUMAH TANGGA PELAKU HOMOSEKSUAL DAN LESBIAN

This study aims to explore why homosexual and lesbian households can survive as couples' households in general. The research method in this study is a qualitative research with a case study approach. The data in this study were collected using in-depth interview techniques. The data sources in this study are primary data sources taken from homosexual and lesbian families. This study found that there are two factors that cause homosexual and lesbian families to survive. First, the presence of children in a homosexual family becomes a mediation that can reduce both partners, even though the husband or wife already knows that homosexuality and lesbianism are deviant acts. Second, economic dependence, such as doubts about the establishment of life, is also a factor in the survival of homosexual and lesbian households. This study concludes that although homosexuals and lesbians are deviant behaviors, there are conditions and factors that cause homo and lesbi families to persist.

Higher Levels of Postnatal Depressive Symptomatology, Post-Traumatic Growth, and Life Satisfaction among Gay Fathers through Surrogacy in Comparison to Heterosexual Fathers: A Study in Israel in Times of COVID-19

This study aimed to explore the psychological welfare, as indicated by postnatal depressive symptomatology, life satisfaction, and posttraumatic growth (growth after contending with stressful birth events), of Israeli gay fathers through surrogacy in comparison to heterosexual fathers. For that purpose, a sample of 167 Israeli fathers (M = 35.6, SD = 4.4) was recruited (68 identified as gay fathers through surrogacy and 99 as heterosexual fathers). Participants completed questionnaires assessing their postnatal depressive symptomatology, life satisfaction, and sense of posttraumatic growth after becoming fathers. Results indicated that gay fathers through surrogacy reported higher levels of life satisfaction and posttraumatic growth than heterosexual fathers. Yet, gay fathers also reported higher levels of postnatal depressive symptomatology than heterosexual fathers when life satisfaction or posttraumatic growth values were low or medium. The findings were interpreted in light of the hardships associated with cross-border surrogacy and the psychological outcomes associated with succeeding to become fathers after contending with them. The study contributes to the limited literature on postnatal depressive symptomatology and posttraumatic growth among gay fathers through surrogacy and provides clinicians and policymakers with relevant information on the psychological strengths and potential difficulties associated with cross-border surrogacy among gay fathers.

What About the Sexual Orientation of the Offspring of Lesbian and Gay Parents? A Multidimensional, Time and Gender-Based Answer

ABSTRACT This study examined the sexual orientation of 30 young adult children of lesbian and gay parents, analyzing three dimensions (sexual behavior, sexual attraction and sexual self-identification), their evolution over time and the possible influence of gender (19 women and 11 men). Sexual orientation was measured using KSOG. The results revealed that most participants defined themselves as heterosexual only, although percentages varied between 87% for sexual behavior to 67% for sexual attraction and 60% for sexual self-identification. Gender differences were found for sexual attraction and self-identification, with men having a polarized profile (responses at both ends of the scale) and women reporting a less exclusive and more fluid sexuality. These findings are discussed in light of the complex nature of sexual orientation, the freedom of these young adults for defining their sexual orientation, and the role played by gender and family experiences.

On the Attribution of Parental Competence: Parents’ Behavior Matters, not Their Sexual Orientation

Using a vignette approach, two studies examined the impact of three factors on judgments of parental competence: target parents’ sexual orientation, gender, and parenting behavior. According to the aversive prejudice framework, people should express their subtle prejudice against lesbian and gay parents when the latter show detrimental parenting behavior––that is, when devaluation is easy to rationalize. Samples of 170 and 290 German heterosexual participants each were presented with a parent-child conflict situation. In Study 1, the child threw a public tantrum during a restaurant visit; in Study 2, the children wanted to play outside instead of doing their homework. Irrespective of target gender, lesbian and gay parents were judged as equally or even somewhat more competent than heterosexual parents. In both studies, parents who responded in an authoritative way received the most positive evaluation of parental competence, whereas parents who responded in an authoritarian way received the most negative evaluation. In neither study, however, there was a significant interaction between parents’ sexual orientation and parenting behavior. That is, contrary to hypothesis, lesbian and gay parents did not receive more negative evaluation than heterosexual parents when responding in a comparatively negative, authoritarian or permissive way. Such interaction could also not be found when additionally considering participants’ levels of homonegativity or social desirability. The discussion centers on the increasing acceptance of same-sex parenthood as well as the high appreciation of authoritative parenting in contemporary Germany.

Family Alliance and Intergenerational Transmission of Coparenting in Gay and Heterosexual Single-Father Families through Surrogacy: Associations with Child Attachment Security.

Parents tend to internalize the coparenting model they experienced during childhood and enact it in their coparenting relationships as adults. These interactive patterns may, in turn, shape their children’s internal working models of attachment relationships. The present study recruited 31 gay and 28 heterosexual single-father families through surrogacy to examine family alliance quality and the mediating role of observed supportive and conflictual coparenting in the association between the coparenting quality single fathers experienced in their families of origin and the attachment security of their children. All single fathers lived in Italy, were cisgender and White, and had a child aged 6–12 years (M = 97.73 months; SD = 20.48; 47.5% girls) who they coparented with nonparental caregivers (i.e., 33 grandparents, 18 babysitters, 8 uncles/aunts). Families did not differ in family alliance dimensions based on fathers’ sexual orientation. Additionally, single fathers who experienced greater coparenting quality in their families of origin demonstrated lower levels of conflictual coparenting, which, in turn, were associated with greater child attachment security. In contrast, observed supportive coparenting did not mediate this relation. The results emphasize the need to reconceptualize the dyadic coparental unit in single-father surrogacy families to include extended family members and nonrelatives.

White parents of adopted Black children in an era of racial reckoning: Challenges, tensions, and strategies

AbstractObjectiveThis study explores White middle‐class adoptive parents' experiences with parenting Black children (M age = 12.3), attending to how intersections of children's race, gender, and developmental stage informed and nuanced parents' approach to racial socialization.BackgroundScholarly debate regarding the adoption of Black children by White parents centers on parents' ability to facilitate positive racial identity development. Limited work has explored how White parents' approach to racial socialization is shaped by Black children's gender and developmental stage, particularly as children grow older and encounter intensified racialized stereotypes.MethodTwenty‐five White parents (11 lesbian mothers, seven gay fathers, seven heterosexual mothers) were selected from a larger sample of 128 adoptive families because they adopted Black (including biracial/multiracial) children, and were interviewed as their children entered adolescence. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data.ResultsA typology emerged that captured parents' racial awareness and racial socialization approach: Minimizing and Reluctant, Worried and Fumbling, Aware but Cautious, and Reflexive and Purposeful. Additional cross‐cutting themes centered on the role of the sociopolitical climate, gender, and developmental stage in racial socialization.ConclusionContemporary adoptive parents of Black children are often constrained by their own White racial frame, but some parents, especially those who are younger or have monoracial children, are able to translate awareness of the complexities involved in raising adopted Black children into meaningful action and understanding.