Adoptive Gay Father Fai: Parent–Child Relatnships and Children's Psychologil Adjtment - PMC

Contents:

• LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG
• STIGMA EXPERIENC, MENTAL HEALTH, PERCEIVED PARENTG COMPETENCE, AND PARENT-CHILD RELATNSHIPS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS THE UNED STAT
• ADOPTIVE GAY FATHER FAI: PARENT–CHILD RELATNSHIPS AND CHILDREN'S PSYCHOLOGIL ADJTMENT
• LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS' EXPERIENC PRCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS
• LBIAN AND GAY ADOPTIVE PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN
• PROCR FOR GAY COUPL LOOKG TO ADOPT
• STIGMA EXPERIENC, MENTAL HEALTH, PERCEIVED PARENTG COMPETENCE, AND PARENT–CHILD RELATNSHIPS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS THE UNED STAT
• WHY GAY PARENTS MAY BE THE BT PARENTS
• GAY ADOPTN: HOW MON IS GAY ADOPTN AND IS LEGAL?
• CAN GAY COUPL ADOPT? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• 10 GAY ADOPTN FACTS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

LBIAN AND GAY PARENTG

” Siarly, other studi wh US sampl of lbian (n = 30, 36) and heterosexual (n = 30, 39) adoptive upl, rpectively, lbian upl have ls often reported a mment to blogil parenthood, attempts to nceive, or pursu of fertily treatments as pared to heterosexual upl (Goldberg, Downg, & Richardson, 2009; Goldberg & Smh, 2008) gay men the USA have also been found to pursue adoptn rather than other pathways to parenthood (Goldberg, 2012); however, gay men oftentim experience particular difficulti achievg blogil parenthood (e.

For example, a sample of 60 heterosexual, 15 gay, and 7 lbian parents of children adopted om foster re the USA, Lavner, Waterman, and Pepl (2014) found that parents generally reported beg satisfied wh their adoptn, reported few prsive symptoms, and low levels of parental strs across three time pots (2, 12, and 24 months postplacement). Among 106 adoptive fai wh lbian, gay, and heterosexual parents, no signifint differenc were found parents’ reports or observatnal data of prchoolers’ genr velopment, as a functn of parental sexual orientatn; across fay typ, children showed preferenc for toys and activi typil of their genr (Farr et al., 2010a; Farr, Bun, Doss, & Patterson, 2018). In observatnal data on fay teractn this same sample, lbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents were found to be relatively warm and acceptg wh their children overall; regardls of sexual orientatn, mothers tend to be warmer wh their children than did fathers (Farr & Patterson, 2013) terms of uple relatnships among LG adoptive parents the USA, Goldberg and Smh (2009) found that lbian (n = 47) and gay adoptive upl (n = 56) their sample reported relatively low levels of relatnship nflict.

Erich, Kanenberg, Case, Allen, and Bogdanos (2009), their study of 210 adopted adolcents and 154 parents the USA, also reported that quali of adolcents’ relatnships wh their lbian, gay, or heterosexual adoptive parents were associated wh adolcents’ reported life satisfactn, parents’ satisfactn wh their child, and the number of prr placements the adolcent had experienced, but were unrelated to parental sexual orientatn. Unlike heterosexual parents and their children, however, lbian and gay parents and their children are often subject to prejudice bee of their sexual orientatn that n turn judg, legislators, profsnals, and the public agast them, sometim rultg negative out, such as loss of physil ctody, rtrictns on visatn, and prohibns agast adoptn (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Appell, 2003; Patterson, Fulcher, & Waright, 2002).

STIGMA EXPERIENC, MENTAL HEALTH, PERCEIVED PARENTG COMPETENCE, AND PARENT-CHILD RELATNSHIPS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS THE UNED STAT

Three ncerns have historilly been associated wh judicial cisn makg ctody ligatn and public polici erng foster re and adoptn: the belief that lbians and gay men are mentally ill, that lbians are ls maternal than heterosexual women, and that lbians' and gay men's relatnships wh sexual partners leave ltle time for ongog parent-child teractns (ACLU Lbian and Gay Rights Project, 2002; Falk, 1989, 1994; Patterson et al., 2002; Patterson & Reddg, 1996).

There is no reliable evince that homosexual orientatn per se impairs psychologil functng, although the social and other circumstanc which lbians and gay men live, cludg exposure to wispread prejudice and discrimatn, often e acute distrs (Cochran, 2001; Freedman, 1971; Gonsrek, 1991; Hart et al., 1978; Hooker, 1957; Meyer, 2003; Reiss, 1980).

Certaly, rearch has found no reasons to believe lbian mothers or gay fathers to be unf parents (Armto, 2002; Barret & Robson, 1990; Bigner & Bozett, 1990; Bigner & Jabsen, 1989a, 1989b; Bos et al., 2003, 2004; Bozett, 1980, 1989; Patterson, 1997; Patterson & Chan, 1996; Sbordone, 1993; Tasker & Golombok, 1997; Victor & Fish, 1995; Wton, 1991). Three aspects of sexual inty are nsired the rearch: genr inty, which ncerns a person's self-intifitn as male or female; genr-role behavr, which ncerns the extent to which a person's activi, occupatns, and the like are regard by the culture as mascule, feme, or both; and sexual orientatn, which refers to a person's choice of sexual partners, who may be homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual (Money & Ehrhardt, 1972; Ste, 1993). Subjects evaluated vigt pictg eher a gay male uple or heterosexual uple and their adopted son along the dimensns of parentg abily, gree to which the child's problems were attributable to the parental relatnship, distrs of the child (cludg genr and sexual inty nfn), and the extent to which ctody reassignment was perceived to be beneficial.

ADOPTIVE GAY FATHER FAI: PARENT–CHILD RELATNSHIPS AND CHILDREN'S PSYCHOLOGIL ADJTMENT

A review of rearch on children of lbian and gay parents intifi some of the sourc of diversy wh lbian and gay parentg muni / prent rearch on those who beme parents the ntext of heterosexual relatnships, before g out as lbian or gay / scribe studi of lbians who beme parents after g out [prent] rearch on children born the ntext of heterosexual relatnships...

The paper foc on (a) methodologil problems rearch on homosexualy; (b) studi parg adjtment levels of male homosexuals and male heterosexuals, effemate and noneffemate male homosexuals, and female homosexuals and female heterosexuals; (c) the relatnship between gree of homosexualy and adjtment; (d) homosexual subculture; and (e) the relatnship between homosexualy and psychopathology. (From the chapter) social science theory and empiril rearch to scribe and expla psychologil heterosexism the US today / addrs the attudal and belief ponents of psychologil heterosexism, wh special attentn to gnive and motivatnal procs / behavral aspects of psychologil heterosexism-specifilly, acts of vlence agast lbians and gay men-are discsed / the nsequenc of psychologil heterosexism are nsired. (From the chapter) gay fatherhood has emerged to public awarens and brought qutns / who are gay fathers, and how do they bee parents / what kd of parents do gay men make, and how do their children velop / what special challeng and strs do gay fathers and their children face daily life, and how do they pe wh them / what n acquatance wh gay fathers and their children offer to the unrstandg of parenthood, child velopment, and fay life / although rearch leratur bearg on such qutns are que new and relatively sparse, existg studi addrs some issu raised by the existence of gay fathers.

“The Amerin Psychologil Associatn plor all public and private discrimatn such areas as employment, hog, public acmodatn, and licensg agast those who engage or have engaged homosexual activi and clar that no burn of proof of such judgment, pacy, or reliabily shall be placed upon the dividuals greater than that imposed on any other persons. Goldberg, Kashy, and Smh (2012) have postulated that children wh gay fathers may show ls sex-typed behavr than children wh heterosexual parents rultg om a ls sex-typed fay environment, and girls gay father fai may show ls sex-typed behavr than girls lbian mother fai due to the absence of a female role mol om the recent years, a growg number of gay father fai have been created through adoptn (Brodzsky & Pertman, 2011). This study ntribut to this emergg body of rearch by vtigatg larger sampl of gay, lbian, and heterosexual adoptive fai the Uned Kgdom g standardized terview and observatnal and qutnnaire measur of parental well-beg, qualy of parent–child relatnships, child adjtment, and child sex-typed behavr, admistered to parents, children, and a theoretil perspective, the study is found upon a velopmental systems approach (Lerner, Lew-Bizan, & Warren, 2011), whereby bidirectnal relatns between dividuals, the fay, and the wir social world, cludg historil time and place, are viewed as fluential velopment.

LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS' EXPERIENC PRCHOOL ENVIRONMENTS

Dpe the monly held assumptn that gay fathers may be ls nurturg than lbian or heterosexual mothers, and the possibily that they may be exposed to greater prejudice, existg rearch suggts that gay father fai would not differ om lbian or heterosexual fai wh rpect to parentg procs such as warmth and sensivy that are associated wh children's psychologil adjtment. It was also hypothized, based on the growg body of rearch showg that fay stcture is ls predictive of child adjtment than the qualy of parent–child relatnships (Biblarz & Stacey, 2010; Golombok, 2000, 2013; Lansford, Ceballo, Abbey, & Stewart, 2001; Patterson, 2006, 2009), that parentg procs would be more strongly associated wh child adjtment than fay is the first study of adoptive gay and lbian fai to be nducted outsi the Uned Stat and is of particular tert as a change legislatn the Uned Kgdom that me to force 2005 has enabled gay and lbian upl to bee jot legal parents of their adopted children.

0% of children gay, lbian, and heterosexual parent fai, rpectively, had no ntact, wh no signifint difference between fay typ, and the large majory of those wh ntact exchanged letters only, once or twice per prentg mographic data for each parent dividually, the parent who was most volved wh the child on a day-to-day basis acrdg to parent reports, and agreed by two terviewers (LM and SJ), was labeled Parent A and the parent was labeled Parent B, the lbian and gay fai. The analys foced on the followg parisons to addrs specific qutns: (a) gay vers lbian to exame whether fai head by male same-sex parents differed om fai head by female same-sex parents ntrollg for adoptn and (b) gay vers heterosexual to exame whether fai head by male same-sex parents differed om tradnal heterosexual fai ntrollg for adoptn.

LBIAN AND GAY ADOPTIVE PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN

(2011) wh rpect to gay and lbian adoptive parents wh a prchool or early school-age child, who found siar parental mental health out across lbian mother, gay father, and heterosexual parent terms of parentg, gay fathers showed higher levels of warmth, greater amounts of teractn, and lower levels of disciplary aggrsn as asssed by terview, as well as higher levels of rponsivens as asssed by direct observatn, than the heterosexual parents. Moreover, unlike heterosexual upl, may be relevant that gay fathers have not experienced the strs of fertily and failed fertily treatments, and have not turned to adoptn as a send choice their qut for a is also nceivable, due to ncerns regardg adoptn by gay men, that children wh higher levels of psychologil problems were least likely to be placed wh gay upl. It appears, therefore, that rather than adoptg ls difficult children, gay fathers provi a highly posive parentg environment for their adopted children, although, given the bidirectnal nature of parent–child relatnships, both factors are likely to be at fdgs of this study, nducted the Uned Kgdom, ntribute to the small amount of existg data on parentg and child velopment adoptive gay father fai, and support the nclns of Farr et al.

(2010a, 2010b) wh a sample om a different geographil area, and adds weight to the growg body of evince that fay procs are more fluential child adjtment than is fay stcture (Biblarz & Stacey, 2010; Golombok, 2000, 2013; Lansford et al., 2001; Patterson, 2006, 2009) lack of difference sex-typed behavr between children wh gay fathers and children wh lbian or heterosexual parents for eher boys or girls is nsistent wh prev rearch on young children wh same-sex parents, and supports the ncln that parental sexual orientatn has ltle fluence on the genr velopment of young children (Golombok et al., 2003; Patterson, 2006, 2009). As the figur apply to children of all ag, appears that our sampl of 41 gay father and 40 lbian mother fai prise a large proportn of the eligible gay father and lbian mother fai the Uned Kgdom wh an adopted child aged 4–8 advantage of the study was the multimethod (terview, observatn, and qutnnaire), multirmant (both parents, child, and teacher) sign, as gay parents, particular, may tend to prent their fai as high functng, eher rponse to the stigma they experience the outsi world or bee they feel they mt live up to high expectatns of themselv as parents given the difficulti they faced adoptg children.

PROCR FOR GAY COUPL LOOKG TO ADOPT

Ined, some heterosexual upl have been found to prefer same-race adoptns (Brodzsky & Prhugh, 2002) reason that lbian and gay upl may be more willg to adopt transracially is that same-sex upl are more likely than heterosexual upl to be terracial (Rosenfeld & Kim, 2005), and, turn, terracial upl are more willg than same-race upl to plete transracial adoptns (Farr & Patterson, 2009). Lbian and gay parents have reported experiencg discrimatn and signifint barriers to beg adoptive parents not only the USA but also Canada (Ross et al., 2008; Ross, Epste, Anrson, & Eady, 2009), Atralia (Riggs, 2006), and the UK (Hicks, 2006) the same time, lbian and gay dividuals and upl may offer special strengths as adoptive parents. In other studi, many adoptive parents have reported that they enjoyed beg a role mol for other lbian, gay, and/or adoptive parents, that they received more support than they had expected om members of their fai of orig after adoptg, and that they felt satisfied wh their experience of adoptn (Brown et al., 2009; Ryan & Whlock, 2007) Transn to Adoptive ParenthoodRegardls of parental sexual orientatn, the transn to parenthood brgs both joys and challeng.

STIGMA EXPERIENC, MENTAL HEALTH, PERCEIVED PARENTG COMPETENCE, AND PARENT–CHILD RELATNSHIPS AMONG LBIAN, GAY, AND HETEROSEXUAL ADOPTIVE PARENTS THE UNED STAT

In one of the few studi parg 52 blogil parentg upl and 52 adoptive parentg upl across the transn to parenthood, adoptive parents monstrated levels of psychologil adjtment that were siar to those of blogil parents (Levy-Shiff, Bar & Har-Even, 1990) transn to adoptive parenthood has been studied most refully among heterosexual upl, but several studi have also examed this life transn among lbian and gay adoptive upl.

Relatnal nflict and expectatns of pletg more childre were related to smaller creas perceived parentg a study examg factors affectg lbian and gay adoptive upl across the transn to parenthood, Goldberg and Smh (2011) found that greater perceived social support and better relatnship qualy were associated wh more favorable mental health, as would be expected on the basis of fdgs om the general adoptn lerature. Th, appears that children adopted by lbian and gay parents are velopg well, wh behavral adjtment on par wh that of children adopted by heterosexual one study specifilly targetg adopted adolcents of lbian and gay parents, adolcents’ disclosure practic were examed, wh particular attentn to issu related to havg been adopted by lbian or gay parents. In observatnal data on fay teractn among fai this same sample, lbian, gay, and heterosexual adoptive parents were found to be relatively warm and acceptg wh their children overall; regardls of sexual orientatn, mothers tend to be warmer wh their children than did fathers (Farr, 2011) terms of uple relatnships among lbian and gay adoptive parents, Goldberg and Smh (2009b) found that lbian (n  =  47) and gay adoptive upl (n  =  56) their sample reported relatively low levels of relatnship nflict.

(2009), their study of 210 adopted adolcents and 154 parents, also reported that quali of adolcents’ relatnships wh their lbian, gay, or heterosexual adoptive parents were associated wh adolcents’ reported life satisfactn, parents’ reported relatnship satisfactn wh their child, and wh the number of prr placements the adolcent had experienced, but were unrelated to parental sexual regard to fay-level variabl, Erich et al. As a queer-intified person a mted same-sex relatnship, I’ve had to navigate the often nfg pathways toward beg an LGBTQ+ (Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Queer) years, whenever people asked how my partner Mark and I beme dads, I ed to joke that we were set up on a bld date graduate school, we had a few drks and 12 1/2 years later, we accintally adopted our son. Beg prepared for the long hl will help alleviate fears and adoptn rourc for LGBTQ+ faiThe followg rourc offer rmatn and support for LGBTQ+ dividuals and upl terted adoptn:Adopt US KidsCenterLk LGBT Communy Center Member DirectoryChild Welfare Informatn Gateway: Adoptn by Fay Type: Lbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgenr and Qutng (LGBTQ) Fai Child Welfare Informatn Gateway: Planng for Adoptn: Knowg the Costs and RourcFay Equaly Natnal Network of LGBTQ Fay GroupsNorth Amerin Council on Adoptable Children: State Adoptn Assistance ProgramsU.

WHY GAY PARENTS MAY BE THE BT PARENTS

Among a sample of approximately 100 adoptive fai head by lbian, gay, and heterosexual parents, we explored associatns at two pots (about 5 years apart; when children were prchool-age and school-age, rpectively) among parent mental health symptoms, perceived parentg petence, perceived adoptn stigma, homonegative microaggrsns, and qualy of parent–child relatnships.

Based on our theoretil ameworks of fay and mory strs as well as some relevant existg rearch regardg sexual stigma and homonegative microaggrsns as related to LG dividual and parent out (Goldberg et al., 2011, 2019; Tornello et al., 2011; Wright and Wegner, 2012; Carone et al., 2017; Green et al., 2019), we also anticipated that greater mental health symptoms and lower petence, rpectively, would be associated wh more microaggrsns. Aligned wh some rearch ditg associatns between greater sexual stigma, fay strs, and child out (Bos and Gartrell, 2010; Vyncke et al., 2014; Crouch et al., 2017; Carone et al., 2018; Calzo et al., 2019), we also expected that homonegative microaggrsns experienced by LG parents would predict reports of lower parent–child relatnship qualy (acuntg for parent mental health symptoms, petence, and adoptn stigma) among their children. Dpe prev work ditg that gay men may hold lower levels of perceived parentg efficy bee of ntextual factors such as homonegative microaggrsns and the stigma related to fatherhood broadly (Armto, 2002; Robson and Brewster, 2014), the gay fathers our sample did not report signifintly lower levels of perceived parentg petence than any other group.

GAY ADOPTN: HOW MON IS GAY ADOPTN AND IS LEGAL?

Intertgly, however, greater mental health symptoms were associated wh lower perceived parentg petence at both wav, which is nsistent wh earlier rearch wh adoptive lbian, gay, and heterosexual parent fai (Goldberg and Smh, 2009) and pots to unrlyg nnectns between dividual adjtment and parentg experienc that uld have important ramifitns for children’s velopment. It is possible that LG parents who are experiencg current homonegative microaggrsns are also experiencg greater strs and emotnal dysregulatn as a rult, which uld terfere wh the qualy of parents’ relatnships wh their children; ed, Hatzenbuehler (2009) scrib how terpersonal relatnships are one doma which mory strs may have negative nsequenc through the effects of rultg psychologil distrs, gnive load, and physlogil strs. Wh specific regard to policy implitns, there are currently 11 US stat wh “relig eedom” or “relig exemptn” laws that create barriers to fosterg and adoptn for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ) prospective or current parents (as well as for LGBTQ children and youth the foster re system awag placement; Movement Advancement Project, 2020).

CAN GAY COUPL ADOPT? WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

"When you thk about the 114, 000 children who are eed for adoptn who ntue to live foster re and who are not beg readily adopted, the goal is to crease the pool of available, terted and well-traed dividuals to parent the children, " Brodzsky addn, Brodzsky said, there's evince to suggt that gays and lbians are pecially acceptg of open adoptns, where the child retas some ntact wh his or her birth parents.

"Intertgly, we fd that a small percentage, but enough to be noteworthy, [of birth mothers] make a nsc cisn to place wh gay men, so they n be the only mother their child's life, " Brodzsky parentgRearch has shown that the kids of same-sex upl — both adopted and blogil kids — fare no worse than the kids of straight upl on mental health, social functng, school performance and a variety of other life-succs a 2010 review of virtually every study on gay parentg, New York Universy soclogist Judh Stacey and Universy of Southern California soclogist Tim Biblarz found no differenc between children raised hom wh two heterosexual parents and children raised wh lbian parents.

10 GAY ADOPTN FACTS THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW