Approximately 5 million children are being raised by an LGBTQ parent in the U.S., and more than 2.5 million LGBTQ adults are parenting children under the age of 18, according to a new report on LGBTQ parenting from UCLA’s Williams Institute. Let’s take a closer look at the findings on demographics, paths to parenthood, and more.
Overview
The report, “LGBTQ Parenting in the US,” used data from multiple national sources (see end of this post), and found that in addition to the nearly 2.6 million parents of minors, 32% of LGB adults and 19% of transgender adults report ever having a child (who may now be grown or living elsewhere). Other key takeaways are:
- Bisexual women, lesbian women, and bisexual men comprise the largest subgroups of LGBTQ parents, although parents exist across the LGBTQ spectrum.
- Among parents, same-sex couples adopt, foster, and have stepchildren at significantly higher rates than different-sex couples.
- LGBTQ parents are more likely to be living in poverty compared to LGBTQ non-parents and straight cisgender parents.
None of this is surprising, and largely confirms previous studies, although it is always good to see the latest numbers.
Parents by LGBTQ Identity
- 18% (2.57 million) of LGBTQ adults are parenting children:
- 26% of cisgender women
- 20% of transgender men
- 12% of transgender women
- 8% of cisgender men
Looked at another way, among LGBTQ parents, here’s how the percentages break down:
- Cisgender women: 75%
- Bisexual women: 61%
- Lesbian women: 14%
- Cisgender men: 16%
- Bisexual men: 11%
- Gay men: 5%
- Transgender people: 9%
- Transgender men: 4.3%
- Transgender women: 2.2%
- Transgender GNC [gender nonconforming]: 2.4%
Overall, LGBTQ people are less likely to be parenting children in their households than are non-LGBTQ people, regardless of age (18% vs. 28%), but cisgender bisexual women are parenting at similar rates to straight cisgender women (about 30%). A higher percentage of Black LGBTQ adults are parents (23%) than White LGBTQ adults (17%).
Children Being Raised by LGBTQ Parents
Approximately 5 million children are being raised by an LGBTQ parent. These include 2 million living in LGBTQ single-parent households and nearly 300,000 being raised by parents in same-sex couples.
Marriage and Relationships
About half (49%) of LGBTQ parents are married (to a same- or different-sex partner), versus 20% of LGBTQ non-parents and 71% of straight cisgender parents. Among LGBTQ parents, 12% are in unmarried partnerships, 23% have never been married, and 17% are divorced, separated, or widowed.
At the same time, 40% of lesbian parents are single mothers, versus 29% of straight women parents. And although many cisgender bisexual women are married or partnered, a “large proportion” of them (43%) are single parents.
Among partnered LGBTQ parents, 47% are partnered with same-gender, cisgender people or with transgender people, while 53% are partnered with a different gender, cisgender person. This should serve as yet another reminder that “same-sex parents” is not synonymous with “LGBTQ parents.”
Family Building and Paths to Parenthood
The report found the following breakdown of paths to parenthood among LGBQ adults (data was not available for transgender adults):
- Current or previous sexual relationship: 78%
- A relationship with a partner/spouse who already had a child: 20%
- Some other way: 13%
- Donor insemination, and you or your partner/spouse gave birth to the child: 9%
- Adoption of a child born outside of your relationship: 6%
- Becoming a legal or informal guardian of a child born outside of your relationship (e.g., kin care): 5%
- A surrogate who gave birth to the child, using donor sperm, or you or your spouse’s sperm: 1%
About half of LGBQ adults said it was somewhat or very important to have children in the future. Additionally, many LGBTQ people “want to have children but fear they will not be able to,” especially “GBQ cisgender men and transgender women across sexual orientations, two groups among LGBTQ people who must identify pathways to parenting outside of giving birth,” said the report. I’ll note that this is why family-building resources like Gays With Kids’ GWK Academy, PregnantTogether, and Trans Fertility Co. are so important.
Geography
Among LGBTQ parents, 31% live in the South, 26% in the Midwest, 24% in the Northeast, and 19% in the West. The report notes that this is similar to non-LGBTQ parents, except that “there are fewer LGBTQ parents in the West and more in the Northeast.” The high numbers in the South—again, echoing earlier data—should underscore the critical need for changing the many LGBTQ-hostile laws and policies in this region.
Legal Parentage
Here’s a finding that particularly struck me: “About 30% of LGBQ parents are not legally recognized or are unsure about their legal status as the parent/guardian of at least one child.” I’ve written for years about why, if you are a nongestational or nongenetic parent, it is important to take additional steps to secure your parentage, even if you are married and/or on your child’s birth certificate. While same-sex couples should benefit from the marital presumption that children born during a marriage are children of both spouses, some courts have challenged that presumption, so taking additional precautions is critical. If you are unmarried, additional steps are even more necessary. Please see “LGBTQ Paths to Parentage Security,” a guide that GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) and I created, to learn more about securing your parentage.
Socioeconomics
LGBTQ parents are more likely to be living in poverty (33%) than non-parents (21%) and straight cisgender parents (21%). Married LGBTQ parents are less likely to be living in poverty than those in other relationship categories, except that for Black and Hispanic LGBTQ parents, there is little difference in the poverty rate between married parents and those living with an unmarried partner.
The report also notes that “the high proportion of the LGBTQ parent population that is comprised of cisgender women of color living in poverty” means that “policies aiming to protect family and parental rights among poor women of color generally would also likely benefit LGBTQ parents as a population.” Yes indeed.
Finally
There’s a lot more in the report, and I encourage you to explore it further. I’m sure I’ll be referring to its findings often in future posts.
The report was authored by Bianca D.M. Wilson, former senior scholar of public policy and Lauren J.A. Bouton, policy fellow and research data analyst. It used data from “LGBT-identified people responding to the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance Survey (BRFSS) and General Social Survey (GSS), respondents who reported being in same-sex couples in the American Community Survey (ACS), and the LGBTQ+ respondents who participated in the NIH-funded Generations and TransPop studies.”
