Lesbians, gays, and bisexuals becoming parents or remaining childfree : confronting social inequalities / Cara Bergstrom-Lynch.

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book recognizes that intense public battles are being waged in the U.S. over the rights of LGB people to form legally and culturally recognized families. Their families are under a kind of sociopolitical scrutiny at this historical moment that compels us all to take stock of our strategies of family-building and, more broadly, the meaning of family in the U.S. today. Through in-depth, open-ended, qualitative interviews with 61 self-identified lesbian, gay, and bisexual people regarding how they came to have children or remain childless/childfree,this book reveals the challenges posed by homophobia and discrimination and showcases the creative strategies, resilience, and resourcefulness of lesbians, bisexuals, and gays as they build families (with or without children) after coming out. From descriptions of how the early process of coming out affected the desire to parent or remain childfree, to stories about the impact of homophobia and discrimination on the decision-making process, to the dynamics within couples that lead to becoming parents or remaining childfree, to examining how cultural notions of the strength of biology are employed when having children, to accounts of how the closet can be used strategically when bringing children into a family, their voices form the heart of this book. In a sociopolitical context in which gay, lesbian, and bisexual people often have to struggle to access the array of rights and opportunities that are afforded to most heterosexual people without question, addressing the questions raised in this book is an urgent and necessary endeavor.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In 2004-2005, sociologist Bergstrom-Lynch (Eastern Connecticut State Univ.) interviewed 61 mostly white LGBT individuals from Michigan and Massachusetts about children and parenthood. All were in committed relationships; about half were parents, half were child-free. The current "gayby boom" was then underway, and Bergstrom-Lynch quizzed her subjects about why they wanted or did not want children, their joint decision-making processes, their strategies to acquire children, and their concerns about public reactions to their LGBT parenthood and abuse their children might face. As LGBT stigma has faded and same-sex marriage declared legal, she speculates whether the recent mainstreaming of LGBT families serves to maintain conventional American expectations of persons, marriage, and parenthood. She certainly documents Americans' preference for biologically related children over adoption among gay and straight alike. Despite social pressure to parent, many LGBT couples still remain content to dote on nieces and nephews or dogs and cats. Book chapters feature numerous extracts from interview transcripts that support Bergstrom-Lynch's analysis. Although not a handbook or procreative guide--see Ellen Bosman's bibliographic essay Families First: GLBT Family Issues and Resources, (CH, Feb'15)--anyone contemplating LGBT parenthood will benefit from the personal experiences and insights documented here. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries. --Lamont Lindstrom, University of Tulsa