Are the fathers alright? A systematic and critical review of studies on gay and bisexual fatherhood

The purpose of the present systematic and critical review was to assess the findings and to identify the gaps in the literature concerning gay and bisexual fathers. A comprehensive search of relevant literature using electronic databases and reference lists for articles published until December 2016 was conducted. A total of 63 studies, spanning from 1979 to 2016, were collected. More than half of the studies were published after 2011 and the overwhelming majority were conducted in the United States. Nine themes were identified in the studies reviewed: (1) Pathways to fatherhood; (2) Motivations for fatherhood; (3) Parenting experiences and childrearing; (4) Family life and relationship quality; (5) Gender and father identities and gender-role orientation; (6) Disclosure of sexual identity; (7) Social climate; (8) Father’s psychosocial adjustment; and (9) Children’s psychosocial adjustment. It was found that research on gay fatherhood appears to be more heterogeneous than on lesbian motherhood, perhaps because of the variety of pathways to parenthood (via co-parenting, adoption, fostering, or surrogacy). Two-father families are becoming more visible in research on sexual minority parenting and gradually transforming the conceptualization of parenting in family research

LGBTQ parenting post heterosexual relationship dissolution

The chapter examines parenting among sexual and gender minorities post heterosexual relationship dissolution (PHRD). Reviewing the literature around intersecting identities of LGBTQ parents, we consider how religion, race, and socioeconomic status are associated with routes into and out of heterosexual relationships and variation in the lived experience of sexual and gender identity minorities, in particular how LGBTQ parents PHRD feel about being out. Further consideration is given to examining how family relationships change and develop as parental sexual and/or gender identity changes. We also explore the impact of PHRD identity and parenthood on new partnerships and stepfamily experiences. The chapter addresses the reciprocal relationship between research on LGBTQ parenting and policy and legal influences that impact upon the experience of LGBTQ parenting PHRD when custody and access are disputed. Finally, the chapter includes future research directions and implications for practice in an area that has been revitalized in recent years

Study of Gay Fathers, 1978

This research investigates the ways in which men who are both gay and fathers resolve identity conflicts. Participants were 19 gay fathers, all of whom were or had been married. The sample was all White and living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Data were collected by in-depth, open-ended, unstructured interviews. The interviews focused on issues of gay and father identities, and disclosure of either or both of these identities to others. Interviews included questions on topics such as marital history, quality of married life, realization of own homosexuality, reasons for separation and/or divorce, discussion of own homosexuality with others, disclosure of father role to others, and others' reactions to either disclosure. The Murray Archive holds additional analogue materials for this study (copies of transcripts of the interviews). If you would like to access this material, please apply to use the data

Children of Gay Fathers, 1985

The purpose of this research was to discover how children cope with having a gay father. Participants were 19 children of gay fathers, living in Iowa City, IA, Oklahoma City, OK, or San Francisco, CA. Of the children, 13 were female and 6 were male. The children's ages ranged from 14 to 35. Data were collected through in-depth, unstructured interviews. Questions asked included how the children found out about their fathers' homosexuality, how they feel about it, whom they have told and why, whom they haven't told and why, what other people's reactions have been, whether their relationship with their father is any different since they found out that he is gay, whether their father acts any differently toward them now that his homosexuality is out in the open, and the advantages and disadvantages of having a gay father. The Murray Research Archive holds copies of the 19 interview transcripts

Maternal men – perverts and deviants? Making sense of gay men as foster carers and adopters

This article examines discourses of gender and sexuality that feature in the social work assessment of gay men who apply to foster or adopt in the United Kingdom (UK). Using data from interviews with social workers and managers, the author argues that three versions of the category gay were dominant. In the first of these, gay men were imagined to be maternal and/or feminine. In the second, they were seen as a source of perversion and sexual risk, and in the third, they were assumed to present problematic models of gender. The author critiques these ideas, and argues instead for social welfare practices that reconsider and expand our notions of gender, sexuality, parenting, and kinship