LGBTQ Parenting Roundup: Almost-Fall Edition

Head towards fall with LGBTQ family profiles, musings on parenthood, new baby announcements, parenting advice, and a sports section with wisdom from a legend! This roundup has news from around the world and across the LGBTQ spectrum.

Family Stories

• Gloria of It’s a Colorful Life writes about “The Opposite Seat of Motherhood: What becoming a mom four different ways taught me about biology, belonging, and what makes a family.”
• The Boston Globe features a multimedia story about concert violinist and music teacher Bunny Shilakowsky, who came out at age 67 as a trans woman to her then-wife and their daughter.
• Ohio couple Cassidy and Nicole Moore tell the Buckeye Flame their story of becoming foster parents multiple times.
• The Vashon-Maury Island Beachcomber profiles resident Maridee Bonadea, who died in a bicycle accident in August and who had “advocated for reproductive freedom, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights and the rights of lesbian mothers. She rode her bicycle to California to raise money for the Lesbian Mothers National Defense Fund and helped organize … Seattle’s first Dyke March.”
• U.K. paralympian Robyn Love, who has a daughter with fellow paralympian Laurie Williams, was the presenter for the National Childbirth Trust’s recent BBC Radio 4 Appeal “to support new parents, helping to raise vital funds for NCT’s free infant feeding support for parents across the UK,” per Diva magazine. Great to see a mainstream charity not only supporting LGBTQ parents, but headlining them in a broad-based campaign.
• While my focus here is primarily on LGBTQ parents and our children, it’s worth remembering that family comes in all forms—and “Family Portrait,” by Mark King at POZ magazine is a moving reminder of that, as King shares about the home that he, his husband, and his brother have made.

New and Growing

• Congratulations to Lady Gaga and fiancé Michael Polansky, who welcomed their first child. (And yes, Gaga is still bi even though she’s engaged to a man.)
• English professional golfer Mel Reid and spouse Carly Reid welcomed their second child in August.
• Actor Jermelle Simon-Jones and content creator Obio Jones have announced they are expecting twins.
• English football (soccer) stars Rachel Daly and Sarah Mayling are expecting.

Politics and Law

• “The Kids Really Are All Right—But Opponents of Marriage Equality Won’t Admit It,” writes Shoshanna Ehlich at Ms. magazine. The piece looks at how the well-being (or supposed lack thereof) of children with queer parents is being used to attack marriage equality, which was won in large part because of the idea that marriage inequality was detrimental to children with same-sex parents.
• Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar said his government will change the law so that gay men and lesbians can adopt, something they had effectively been banned from doing after legislation passed in 2020 under Viktor Orban’s right-wing former government, reports Reuters.
• Dads Adam Frisby and Jamie Corbett have lost their battle to have intended parents through surrogacy be recognized in the U.K. from the moment of the child’s birth. The men had had a child via surrogate in the U.S., but failed to gain recognition as her legal parents when they returned to the U.K. Finally, they petitioned Parliament to update the law, but after a debate on September 7, it declined to pursue the matter, reports PinkNews. Frisby wrote on Instagram, “Families like ours were reduced to statements like ‘wealthy men exploiting women.’ Claims were made about surrogates regretting their decisions, which when challenged had not one scrap of research or evidence.” Frisby underscored his and Corbett’s intent to protect everyone involved in surrogacy—child, surrogate, and intended parents—but that was not enough. It’s clear that there was a good deal of homophobia involved in the debate.
• In Australia, Queensland’s health department has updated guidance about the use of donated eggs and sperm, reports ABC News. No more than 10 families can be created with any given gamete donation—but previously, if both people in a couple carried a pregnancy, they were counted as two families. Now, they’ll count as one.
• An Irish woman married to an Australian woman had applied for Irish passports for their two daughters, and received one for their eldest. They were recently told to return it, however, since the Irish woman is not the gestational parent. “There is a legal gap in how Irish citizenship laws address children born abroad to same-sex parents,” explains GCN. An Irish court ruled last year in favor of addressing this gap, but now it’s up to the Supreme Court of Ireland, which is expected to rule on the matter later this year. Until then, the women must give up their eldest daughter’s passport, essentially invalidating one parent’s recognition as a parent by her home country.

Advice and Resources

• Christopher Katis of QSaltLake asked doula and LGBTQ parenting guide Sam Leeson of babyREADY to share “what LGBTQ+ people considering parenthood should think about.”
• Nikhil Vashee, senior director of education law and policy at Family Equality, writes at the Advocate that “LGBTQ+ families face a harder school year — but they are not powerless.” (See my own back-to-school tips for LGBTQ families here.)
• Rainbow Families Australia has obtained a AU$300,000 grant from the Australian Government’s LGBTIQA+ Health Program to launch “Strong Starts: Supporting LGBTQ+ Parents from Pregnancy to Parenthood.” The organization explains, “This two-year national initiative will take our proven NSW peer support programs and expand them online, ensuring expectant and new LGBTQ+ parents across every state and territory, including regional and remote areas, have a safe, welcoming place to turn.” Government support for healthy LGBTQ families. Imagine.
• “Teen Driving Safety Is About More Than Just Driving School,” writes Brett Berk at Road and Track—and while there’s nothing LGBTQ-specific about this piece, Berk, a former preschool teacher and early childhood center director, is also the author of The Gay Uncle’s Guide to Parenting, which isn’t LGBTQ-specific, either, but goes to show that queer people have lots of useful advice on parenting topics of broad applicability.

The Sports Section

• WNBA star and three-time Olympic gold medalist Breanna Stewart became the first ever two-time TISSOT MVP of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which the U.S. won with a 97-79 win over France yesterday. Stewart has two children with spouse Marta Xargay Casademont, a former WNBA and Spanish national team player.
• The PWHL Player’s Association has announced Hayleigh Cudmore as its new senior director of player affairs. A lawyer, former professional hockey player with the Canadian Women’s Hockey League, and PWHLPA secretary, Cudmore won gold with Canada at the 2010 IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship. She has three children with fellow Canadian and spouse Brianne Jenner, two-time Olympic gold medalist and former captain of the PWHL’s Ottawa Charge, now with PWHL Hamilton. See their family in an adorable commercial here.
• ESPN Originals shares a clip from its the “Life in the W” series, showing how WNBA star DeWanna Bonner of the Atlanta Dream “credits co-parenting for letting her play in the WNBA.” Bonner has two children with former Phoenix Mercury teammate Candice Dupree.
• WNBA legend and Basketball Hall-of-Famer Candace Parker shares on Instagram how back-to-school season is going for her and spouse Anna Petrakova’s family: “Lailaa’s a SENIOR. Hartt just started school like it’s no big deal. And Goose is applying to Kindergarten with more paperwork than I filed for my last contract negotiation.” (Ha!) She added, “Time has wings, this year is bittersweet, and life teaches you through these moments to truly be present!” Words for us all.