LGB + Moms and Dads: “My Primary Identity… is Being a Parent”

Parenthood experiences of LGBT+ individuals: a systematic review

“…Primary studies on LGBT+ parents found that parenthood was more important than work life and careers of LGBT+ individuals 19 and that the relationship with their partners 9 and families 7 and the levels of self-esteem and social support increased after parenthood 7 . Besides, these parents perceived themselves as more important in the society and stated that legal processes on adoption made their work easier 20 (Table 1).…”

“…Although participants in some of the studies expressed that the society was more tolerant of LGBT+ parents, the majority of studies reported that social discrimination continued even after parenthood 7,11,[21][22][23][24][25] . Problems of LGBT+ individuals in work life included precariousness, discrimination, and being unable to benefit from the rights of heterosexual employees, such as maternity and paternity leave, breastfeeding leave, unpaid leave, or flexibility in working hours 7,19,21 .…”

“…Best parenthood experiences of LGBT+ individuals include acceptance by their families and the society that they live in and increase in their self-esteem 4,15,16 . As such, their identity as parent may be accepted by the society irrespective of their sexual identities 19 . Besides, various studies noted that same-sex parents had better social relations with their co-workers after the transition to parenthood 4,15,16,20,21 .…”

“…This review found that same-sex parents in various studies faced with various negative reactions due to their sexual identities when they decided to become parents 5,15,19 . Primary studies noted that parenthood of LGBT+ individuals was socially questioned, homophobia was common in their family and social environment, and LGBT+ individuals were under the pressure to form healthy parent-child relationship 7,15,[29][30][31][32] .…”

“My genitals have nothing to do with my parenting”: A qualitative study of trans adoption

“…Consistent with previous literature, trans parents were interested in pursuing parenthood since youth and often wondered whether and how they could parent (Chen et al, 2018;Chiniara et al, 2019;Forenza et al, 2021;Tornello, 2021a;Tornello, 2021b). This affected some parents' view of parenthood altogether though for others, this was a lesser concern.…”