It Takes a Lot of Planning: Gay and Lesbian Young Adult Perceptions of Same-sex Parenthood

• In Event: 090 - Section on Sociology of Sexualities Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 11. Families and Intimacy

Abstract

Lesbian and gay parents are becoming more common and visible in the United States. Despite these shifts, legal and social obstacles continue to prevent some from achieving desired parenthood. Access to parenthood is not legally secure in all states and options remain uncertain and difficult to utilize for many gays and lesbians. Using focus group interviews with 36 gay and lesbian young adults in the Midwest, this study sought to explore how gay and lesbian young adults without children felt about same sex-parents and their own parenthood prospects. Themes included the perceived legal and social barriers to parenthood, how geographic and location impacted outcomes and options, assumptions that achieving parenthood would be expensive and potentially out of reach financially, and a focus on how they would have to negotiate biology and relatedness when growing their families. Implications for policy and future research are discussed.

Authors

• Nicholas Keith Park, Wentworth Institute of Technology

• Kathleen S. Slauson-Blevins, Old Dominion University