Lesbian And Gay Foster Care And Adoption Second Edition

Featuring a spectrum of families from diverse backgrounds, this book reveals the joys and challenges of adoptive and foster parenting. The authors outline how the experience of adopting and fostering has changed for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people over the years, major changes in policy, and what the research can tell us about LGBT parenting. They interview families involved at different stages of the fostering and adoption process, from those undergoing assessments through to the experienced foster carers and adopters who were interviewed for the first edition of this book 20 years previously. While the number of LGBT people adopting or fostering has increased since then, some of the very real challenges still endure - including social stigma, homophobia and discriminatory policies - and families share some of the strategies they have used to help to address them. This is an essential source of information and advice for same-sex couples and LGBT single parents, as well as social workers, social work educators, sociologists of personal life, fostering and adoption panel members.

Adoption by Lesbians and Gay Men is an interdisciplinary examination of the myths, misconceptions, research, and practice literature related to sexual-minority individuals' efforts to adopt and raise children. It also provides a blueprint for research and professional training and highlights best practice standards for working with this group of adoptive parents.

This book explores the myths and prejudices that influence attitudes towards lesbians and gay men as parents.It also suggests ways that social workers can more effectively support lesbian and gay adopters and foster parents.

Very little material exists on the experiences of gay men and lesbians who have adopted, fostered or provided respite care for children. This book presents a collection of personal accounts, based on interviews and written testimonies, by lesbian and gay parents from many different social and ethnic backgrounds. Their stories record good and bad experiences, but overall, the accounts are positive and emphasise the rewards of parenting. This book will dispel a lot of misconceptions: it will also be useful to gay men and lesbians who are thinking about adopting or fostering children.

An essential step-by-step guide to adoption for lesbians and gay men, covering both the adoption process and the adoption experiences of several lesbians and gay men. Hill's book contains information that is relevant to both single adopters and same-sex couples and is the first of its kind to be published in the UK.

The traditional concept of family as being exclusively heterosexual has resulted in myth-generation about lesbian parents as well as fostering limitations in the programs and benefits that support more diverse nontraditional families. Social Work with Lesbian Parent Families: Ecological Perspectives explores the variety of social systems with which lesbian parent families interact, with a focus on implications for improved, diversity-affirming service delivery and policy development. Unlike other literature on lesbian parent families, this revealing resource pulls together work on lesbian parenting from various researchers across a broad range of disciplines and presents this work from the ecosystems perspective so that the reader may view the experiences of lesbian parent families in a holistic way. The research goes beyond simple comparisons between lesbian and straight mothers. This useful text provides more complex research data, including both a more sophisticated view of the diverse communities in which lesbian parents are found, and more innovative ways of studying the issues relevant to social service providers. Developmental and life issues negotiated by lesbian parent families are discussed in detail using a strengths-based approach to intervention with individuals, families, small groups, communities, and larger systems. This unique book has the strong potential to influence the policies that impact lesbian parent families. Social Work with Lesbian Parent Families: Ecological Perspectives is a valuable resource for social workers, psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, marriage and family therapists, public policy and administration professionals, students, and academics doing research on sexual orientation and family. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services.

The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies, 2nd Edition will be a broad, interdisciplinary product aimed at students and educators interested in an interdisciplinary perspective on LGBTQ issues. This far-reaching and contemporary set of volumes is meant to examine and provide understandings of the lives and experiences of LGBTQ individuals, with attention to the contexts and forces that shape their world. The volume will address questions such as: What are the key theories used to understand variations in sexual orientation and gender identity? How do LGBTQ+ people experience the transition to parenthood? How does sexual orientation intersect with other key social locations (e.g., race) to shape experience and identity? What does LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy look like? How have anti-LGBTQ ballot measures affected LGBTQ people? What are LGBTQ+ people’s experiences during COVID-19? How were LGBTQ+ people impacted by the Trump administration? What is life like for LGBTQ+ people living outside the United States? This encyclopedia will be a unique product on the market: a reference work that looks at LGBTQ issues and identity primarily through the lenses of psychology, human development, and sociology, and emphasizing queer, feminist, and ecological perspectives on this topic. Entries will be written by top researchers and clinicians across multiple fields—psychology, human development, gender/queer studies, sexuality studies, social work, nursing, cultural studies, education, family studies, medicine, public health, and sociology—contributing to approximately 450-500 signed entries. All entries will include cross-references and Further Readings.