The Construction of Lesbian and Gay Parenthood in Sociological Research. A Critical Analysis of the International Literature

TitleThe Construction of Lesbian and Gay Parenthood in Sociological Research. A Critical Analysis of the International Literature
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2016
AuthorsTrappolin L
JournalInterdisciplinary Journal of Family Studies
Volume21
Issue2
Pagination41-59
Date Published12/2016
PublisherPadova University Press
Place PublishedPadova, IT
ISSN Number2282-2011
Keywordshomosexual parents, homosexuality, parenthood., sociology of family
Abstract

Sociologists have been investigating lesbian and gay parenthood since the Seventies, and have lately succeeded in including homosexual parents in family studies. Available literature reviews on the topic of homosexual parenthood have focused mainly on how the meanings attached to lesbian and gay parents, their families and kinship have changed. Research has seldom addressed how the variety of experiences described correlates with the narrowing of the analysis down to specific examples. This paper seeks to fill this gap by examining how the forms of parenthood have evolved in qualitative research conducted in theUSA and the UK from the Seventies to the present day. This body of research is critically examined in terms of the samples considered (the gender and number of parents involved, how their children were conceived) and how researchers justified their methodological choices. The analysis shows how sociological investigation has gradually constructed and justified a clear separation between heterosexual and homosexual experiences of parenthood.