LGB-Parent Families: The Current State of the Research and Directions for the Future

doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-800285-8.00003-0

Advances in Child Development and Behavior

Volume 46, 2014, Pages 57-88

https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-800285-8.00003-0 Get rights and content

Abstract

Over the past several decades, lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) parenting has grown more visible. Alongside this enhanced visibility, research on the experiences of LGB parents and their children has proliferated. The current chapter addresses this research, focusing on several main content areas: family building by LGB people, the transition to parenthood for LGB parents, and functioning and experiences of LGB parents and their children. In the context of discussing what we know about LGB-parent families, we highlight gaps in our knowledge and point to key areas that future research should aim to answer, including how race, ethnicity, social class, and geographic factors shape the experiences of LGB-parent families.

Introduction

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the research on lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) parenting, with attention to theoretical and empirical advances, controversies, and gaps in this area. Over the past few decades, the issue of LGB parenting has grown more visible, both nationally (i.e., within the United States) and internationally. Once a topic that received marginal attention by news outlets, LGB parenting is now featured regularly in mainstream media (e.g., Saint Louis, 2013). Alongside this increased visibility, research on the experiences of LGB parents and their children has grown. Yet this research, while providing insight into many aspects of LGB family life, has been somewhat limited in focus and scope. Namely, the populations that have been studied, the areas under investigation, and the conclusions that have been drawn warrant a critical perspective, which we attempt to bring in this chapter.

In the following sections, we address (a) family building by LGB people, (b) the transition to parenthood for LGB parents, and (c) functioning and experiences of LGB parents and their children. Throughout our discussion of these subtopics, we highlight key areas that future research should aim to answer, such as how recent changes in laws and policies affect LGB-parent families, and how race, ethnicity, social class, and region of residence interface with sexual minority status.

Section snippets

Family Building by LGB People

Given the growing attention to LGB parenting, it is not surprising that research has explored the issue of how sexual minorities become parents: that is, what family-building routes they choose and their experiences with these varied routes. Indeed, sexual minorities build families in a variety of ways. First, many sexual minorities become parents in the context of heterosexual relationships; that is, they become parents before coming out as LGB (Tasker, 2013). Other LGB people become parents

The Transition to Parenthood

What happens when LGB people become parents? Hundreds of studies have examined the issue of the transition to parenthood for heterosexual, biological-parent families (e.g., Kohn et al., 2012, McKenzie and Carter, 2013), yet little research has addressed how sexual minorities experience this key life transition. Over the past two decades, however, inroads have been made in this area. Despite the challenges of recruiting participants before they become parents, several large-scale research

LGB-Parent Families’ Functioning and Experiences

Of interest, of course, is what happens beyond the transition to parenthood for LGB couples and families. A growing body of research has focused on parent, child, and family functioning within LGB-parent households. This research has in part been motivated, and has served to dispel, concerns about the potentially negative impact of growing up with LGB parents (see Goldberg, 2010). The fact that this research was initially motivated by efforts to determine whether lesbian mothers’ sexual

Conclusions

Studies on LGB parenting have grown in number and scope over the past several decades. Findings are consistent in suggesting that despite confronting heterosexism in a variety of social contexts—including the health care system, the legal system, and the school system—LGB parents and their children are functioning quite well.

The research on LGB parenting, however, is characterized by a variety of sampling- and methodological-related problems. As reviewed extensively by Goldberg (2010) and other

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Chapter Three - LGB-Parent Families: The Current State of the Research and Directions for the Future

Abstract

Introduction

Section snippets

Family Building by LGB People

The Transition to Parenthood

LGB-Parent Families’ Functioning and Experiences

Conclusions

Patient Education & Counseling

Children & Youth Services Review

Baby steps: How lesbian alternative insemination is changing the world

Sexual orientation of adult sons of gay fathers

Developmental Psychology

Social learning theory

Gay men who become fathers via surrogacy: The transition to parenthood

Journal of GLBT Family Studies

Gay men and surrogacy

Gay men: Negotiating procreative, father, and family identities

Journal of Marriage and Family

Bathrooms, baseball, and bra shopping: Lesbian and gay parents talk about engendering their children

Sociological Perspectives

How does the gender of parents matter?

Journal of Marriage and Family

Parenting by gay fathers

Marriage & Family Review

Parenting by gay fathers

Parenting behaviors of homosexual and heterosexual fathers

Journal of Homosexuality

Planned gay father families in kinship arrangements

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy

Adolescents of the USA National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Can family characteristics counteract the negative effects of stigmatization?

Family Process

Adolescents of the US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: The impact of having a known or unknown donor on the stability of psychological adjustment

Human Reproduction

The USA National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study (NLLFS): Homophobia, psychological adjustment, and protective factors

Journal of Lesbian Studies

Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Male role models, gender role traits, and psychological adjustment

Gender & Society

Children's gender identity in lesbian and heterosexual two-parent families

Sex Roles

Children in planned lesbian families: Stigmatization, psychological adjustment, and protective factors

Culture, Health & Sexuality

Experience of parenthood, couple relationship, social support, and child rearing goals in planned lesbian families

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

Adoption by lesbians and gays: A national survey of adoption agency policies, practices, and attitudes

Gay parents/straight schools: Building communication and trust

“It wasn’t ‘let's get pregnant and go do it’”: Decision-making in lesbian couples planning motherhood via donor insemination

Family Relations

Division of labor among lesbian and heterosexual parents: Associations with children's adjustment

Journal of Family Psychology

Open adoption

“We’re not living on planet lesbian”: Constructions of male role models in debates about lesbian families

Sexualities

Sexual socialization in lesbian-parent families: An exploratory analysis

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

A qualitative study of the interplay between privilege and oppression

Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development

Lesbian mothers with planned families: A comparative study of internalized homophobia and social support

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

Conceiving and negotiating reproductive relationships: Lesbians and gay men creating families with children

Sociology

Gay male couples’ paternal involvement in lesbian-parented families

Journal of Family Studies

Making the decision: Factors influencing gay men's choice of an adoption path

Adoption Quarterly

Gender development and gender effects

Parenting and child development in adoptive families: Does parental sexual orientation matter?

Applied Developmental Science

Critical differentials: Querying the incongruities within research on lesbian parent families

Sexualities

Lesbian M/Otherhood: Strategies of familial-linguistic management in lesbian parent families

Sociology

The National Lesbian Family Study: 2. Interviews with mothers of toddlers

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

The National Lesbian Family Study: 3. Interviews with mothers of five-year-olds

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry

US National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Psychological adjustment of 17-year-old adolescents

Pediatrics

Adolescents of the U.S. National Longitudinal Lesbian Family Study: Sexual orientation, sexual behavior, and risk exposure

Archives of Sexual Behavior