Making Room for Daddies: Male Couples Creating Families through Adoption

Abstract

Despite the increased visibility of gay and lesbian parents, absent from the literature is theory concerning how or why gay men decide to become fathers and how these families navigate the unique challenge of defining their families within a context of pervasive heterosexism and antigay prejudice. The current study utilized a grounded theory approach to aid in the development of a theory of gay-male-headed family development. Questions considered included the following: Who are these men, and how do they go about forming their families? What challenges do these families face in their daily lives, and from whom or what do they seek support? Finally, what are the experiences of these families as they interact with schools, communities, biological families, and chosen families? Results indicate that this new generation of gay fathers exhibits great strength and resiliency in constructing and raising their families. These men are themselves transformed by the act of fathering while at the same time acting as forces of change to transform the very idea of fatherhood in American culture.

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