Lesbian and queer mothers navigating the adoption system: The impacts on mental health

Lori Ross
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Women's College Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada

Rachel Epstein
LGBT Parenting Network, Sherbourne Health Centre, Toronto, Canada

Corrie Goldfinger
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Canada

Leah Steele
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Canada

Scott Anderson
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Canada

Carol Strike
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, University of Toronto, Canada

PP: 254 - 266

Abstract

Increasing numbers of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and queer (LGBTQ) people are choosing to parent through adoption. The minimal research available, focused particularly on lesbian and gay adoptive parents, suggests they face significant barriers to adoption (including being held to a higher standard than heterosexual adoptive parents), homophobia from child welfare professionals, and limited social support post-adoption.

These issues have significant implications for the mental health of LGBTQ adoptive parents, but have not been researched to date. Seven interviews were conducted with Canadian lesbian and queer adoptive parents to examine the mental health impact of adoption and identify barriers to accessing health and social services.

Adoptive parents described multiple challenges related to the adoption process and becoming a parent. Further research is needed to identify the long-term mental health effects of the stress of the adoption process on lesbian and queer parents, and their need for support services.

Keywords

lesbian, adoption, mental health, adoptive parents, sociology

View references

References

Bennett S (2003) International adoptive lesbian families: Parental perceptions of the influence of diversity on family relationships in early childhood, Smith College Studies in Social Work 47(1): 73-91.

Brodzinsky DM and the staff of the Evan B Donaldson Adoption Institute (2003) Adoption by lesbians and gays: A national survey of adoption agency policies, practices, and attitudes, Adoption Quarterly 3(5): 5-23.

Brooks D and Goldberg S (2001) Gay and lesbian adoptive and foster care placements: Can they meet the needs of waiting children? Social Work 46(2): 147-157.

Cochran SD and Mays VM (2007) Physical health complaints among lesbians, gay men and bisexual and homosexually experienced heterosexual individuals: Results from the California Quality of Life Survey, American Journal of Public Health 97(11): 2048-2055.

Creswell JW (2003) Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, And Mixed Methods Approaches 2nd edn, Sage: Thousand Oaks CA.

Daniluk J and Hurtig-Mitchell J (2003) Themes of hope and healing: Infertile couples' experiences of adoption, Journal of Counselling and Development 81(4): 89-399.

Dean C, Dean NR, White A and Liu WZ (1995) An adoption study comparing the prevalence of psychiatric illness in women who have adoptive and natural children compared with women who have adoptive children only, Journal of Affective Disorders 34: 55-60.

Eng DL (2003) Transnational adoption and queer diasporas, Social Text 23(3): 1-37.

Epstein R (2003) Lesbian families, in Lynn M (ed) Voices: Essays on Canadian Families, Nelson Canada: Toronto, pp.76-102.

Gair S (1999) Distress and depression in new motherhood: Research with adoptive mothers highlights contributing factors, Child and Family Social Work 4: 55-66.

Goodman SH and Tully E (2006) Depression in women who are mothers: An integrative model of risk for the development of psychopathology in their sons and daughters, in Keyes CLM and Goodman GH (eds) Women and Depression: A Handbook for the Social, Behavioral and Biomedical Sciences, Cambridge University Press: New York, pp.241-280.

Grace SL, Evindar A and Stewart DE (2003) The effect of postpartum depression on child cognitive development and behavior: A review and critical analysis of the literature, Archives of Women's Mental Health 6: 263-274.

Hicks S (2000) Good lesbian, bad lesbian: Regulating heterosexuality in fostering and adoption assessments, Child and Family Social Work 5: 157-168.

Mallon G (2007) Assessing lesbian and gay prospective foster and adoptive families: A focus on the home study process, Child Welfare 86(2): 67-87.

Mays VM and Cochran SD (2001) Mental health correlates of perceived discrimination among lesbian, gay and bisexual adults in the United States, American Journal of Public Health 91(11): 1869-1876.

McGlone K, Santos L, Kazama L, Fong R and Mueller C (2002) Psychological stress in adoptive parents of special-needs children, Child Welfare League of America LXXXXI(2): 151-171.

Meyer IH (2003) Prejudice, social stress and mental health in lesbian, gay and bisexual populations: Conceptual issues and evidence, Psychological Bulletin 129(5): 674-697.

O'Hanlan KA, Dibble SL, Hagan HJJ and Davids R (2004) Advocacy for women's health should include lesbian health, Journal of Women's Health 13: 227-234.

Riggs DW (2006a) Developmentalism and the rhetoric of best interests of the child: Challenging heteronormative constructions of families and parenting in foster care, Journal of GLBT Family Studies 2(2): 57-73.

Riggs DW (2006b) What's love got to do with it? Ambivalence and the national imaginary, International Journal of Critical Psychology 16: 32-52.

Ross LE (2005) Perinatal mental health in lesbian mothers: A review of potential risk and protective factors, Women and Health 41: 113-128.

Ross LE, Steele L and Sapiro B (2005) Perceptions of predisposing and protective factors for perinatal depression in same-sex parents, Journal of Midwifery and Women's Health 50(6): 65-70.

Ryan SD (2000) Examining social workers' placement recommendations of children with gay and lesbian adoptive parents, Families in Society 81(5): 517-528.

Ryan SD, Bedard LE and Gertz MG (2007) The influence of gender on the placement of children with gay or lesbian adoptive parents, Journal of GLBT Family Studies 3(1): 15-34.

Ryan SD, Pearlmutter S and Groza V (2004) Coming out of the closet: Opening agencies to gay and lesbian adoptive parents, Social Work 49(1): 85-95.

Shelley-Sireci L and Ciano-Boyce C (2002) Becoming lesbian adoptive parents: An explanatory study of lesbian adoptive, lesbian birth, and heterosexual adoptive parents, Adoption Quarterly 6(1): 33-43.

Smith D (1987) The Everyday World as Problematic: A Feminist Sociology, University of Toronto Press: Toronto.

Stacey J and Biblarz TJ (2001) (How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter? American Sociological Review 66: 159-183.

Trenka JJ, Oparah JC and Shin SY (eds) (2006) Outsiders Within: Writing on Transracial Adoption, South End Press: Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Troiden RR (1989) The formation of homosexual identities, in Herdt GH (ed) Gay and Lesbian Youth, Harrington Park Press: New York, pp.43-49.

Weston K (1991) Families We Choose: Lesbians, Gays, Kinship, Columbia University Press: New York.

Navigate: Archives | Contents | Top of page

Sign Me Up for latest release updates

*  Email Address:
    First Name:
    Last Name:
*  I am interested in::





 

Web Feed

Latest Articles

Special Issues

Culture, Death and Dying with Dignity
Volume 22/1
Summary

Lifestyle Science: Self-healing, co-production and DIY
Volume 21/3
Summary

Transformations in Health Care: Privatisation, Corporatisation and the Market
Volume 20/3
Summary | Contents

Mental Health and Illness: Practice and Service Issues
Volume 20/2
Summary | Contents

Men's Health
Volume 19/4
Summary | Contents

Food, ethics and identity
Volume 19/3
Summary | Contents

Sociology, Recreational Drugs and Alcohol
Volume 19/2
Summary | Contents

Ageing, Anti-ageing and Globalization: Transitions and limits in the governance of ageing
Volume 18/4
Summary | Contents

Expert Patient Policy
Volume 18/2
Summary | Contents

Social Determinants of Child Health and Wellbeing
Volume 18/1
Summary | Contents

Integrative, Complementary and Alternative Medicine: Challenges for Biomedicine?
Volume 17/4
Contents

Community, Family, Citizenship and the Health of LGBTIQ People
Volume 17/3
Summary | Contents

Re-imagining Preventive Health: Theoretical Perspectives
Volume 17/2
Summary | Contents

Death, Dying and Loss in the 21st Century
Volume 16/5
Summary | Contents

Social Equity and Health
Volume 16/2
Summary | Contents

Medical Dominance Revisited
Volume 15/5
Summary | Contents

Childbirth, Politics and the Culture of Risk
Volume 15/4
Summary | Contents

Revisiting Sexualities and Health: Contributions from Sociological Insights
Volume 15/3
Summary | Contents

Closing Asylums for the Mentally Ill: Social Consequences
Volume 14/3
Summary | Contents

Workplace Health: The Injuries of Neoliberalism
Volume 14/1
Summary | Contents

Rural Health Symposium: Patients and Practitioners
Volume 13/2
Summary | Contents

Symposium on Women's Health
Volume 13/1
Summary | Contents

Symposium on Women's Health: Breast Health - Health and Ageing
Volume 12/2
Summary | Contents

Symposium on Indigenous Health and the Contribution of Sociology
Volume 10/2
Summary | Contents

Research Funding
Volume /

Research Methodology: Theory and Practice
Volume /

Reconstructing Health Knowledge
Volume /

crossref.org - The citation linking backbone



Website by Arrowsmith Websites Sunshine Coast. Business & Government Websites, Social Media, Web Hosting, Domain Names & SEO. Website Design Sunshine Coast, Australia.