Gay Dads: Transitions to Adoptive Fatherhood
Abbie E. Goldberg
Abstract
When gay couples become parents, they face a host of questions and issues that their straight counterparts may never have to consider. How important is it for each partner to have a biological tie to their child? How will they become parents: will they pursue surrogacy, or will they adopt? Will both partners legally be able to adopt their child? Will they have to hide their relationship to speed up the adoption process? Will one partner be the primary breadwinner? And how will their lives change, now that the presence of a child has made their relationship visible to the rest of the world? Thi ... More
When gay couples become parents, they face a host of questions and issues that their straight counterparts may never have to consider. How important is it for each partner to have a biological tie to their child? How will they become parents: will they pursue surrogacy, or will they adopt? Will both partners legally be able to adopt their child? Will they have to hide their relationship to speed up the adoption process? Will one partner be the primary breadwinner? And how will their lives change, now that the presence of a child has made their relationship visible to the rest of the world? This book examines the ways in which gay fathers approach and negotiate parenthood when they adopt. Drawing on empirical data from in-depth interviews with seventy gay men, the book analyzes how gay dads interact with competing ideals of fatherhood and masculinity, alternately pioneering and accommodating heteronormative “parenthood culture”.
Keywords:
gay couples,
parents,
biological tie,
gay fathers,
parenthood,
adoption,
gay dads,
fatherhood,
masculinity
Bibliographic Information
Print publication date: 2012 |
Print ISBN-13: 9780814732236 |
Published to NYU Press Scholarship Online: March 2016 |
DOI:10.18574/nyu/9780814732236.001.0001 |