Post of the Week: “Chestfeeding”
Here’s a thoughtful read to end your week: Aren Aizura’s piece at Mutha Magazine: “Chestfeeding,” about parenting as a trans, queer dad with another trans, queer dad.
Starting
Up to 3.8 Million LGBTQ Millennials Considering Expanding Their Families
Sixty-three percent of LGBTQ millennials—up to 3.8 million people—are considering becoming first-time parents or adding more children to their families, according to a new report from Family Equality Council.
7 Tips for Starting the Journey to Parenthood
A new year may motivate many of us to ponder new endeavors. For some, this may mean taking the first steps towards parenthood—so I wanted to revisit some of the tips I found most useful as my spouse and I began our own journey. This is not a guide on how to create a family (there are too many options to explore in a column of this length), but rather some suggestions for what you may want to do first in order to start weighing those options.
New Training Program Aims to Increase Family-Building Providers’ LGBTQ Competency
A new online training program for healthcare providers and staff, family law practitioners, and other family-building professionals aims to increase their ability to welcome and meet the needs of LGBTQ prospective parents.
A New Book Explores Genes, Choice, and Donor Kin
Many queer families, including my own, began with one parent’s eggs and donor sperm—and donor conception is also an option for many single parents and non-queer fertility-challenged couples. But the sperm of a single anonymous donor may be used to create children for numerous families—and many of these them are connecting to create new networks of kinship that sit at the intersection of chosen and genetic family. A thoughtful new book explores how these networks have evolved and the benefits and challenges for children and parents in them.
HHS Tells South Carolina It’s Okay to Discriminate in Foster Care and Adoption
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services yesterday granted South Carolina a waiver so that federally funded adoption and foster care agencies in the state may discriminate based on a person’s religion, LGBTQ identity, or other factors that do not harmonize with the religious beliefs that the agency espouses.
LGBTQ Parenting Roundup
Lots of moving family stories in this roundup, including a family living full time in their RV; a couple who induced lactation so they could both nurse; a trans dad and his spouse who started their family with two known donors, also spouses; stories of infertility and miscarriage, and more–including penguins!
Queer Midwifes and Doulas Making Headlines
Two recent articles highlight some of the ways in which queer and queer-affirming midwives and doulas are helping LGBTQ families. Have a read—and share your own story of using one, if you did!
LGBTQ Parenting Year in Review 2018
LGBTQ parents and our children faced significant challenges to equality and inclusion in 2018—but there was still some progress. Here are the highlights of the year, both good and bad.
LGBTQ Parenting Roundup
Time for another roundup of what’s happening in LGBTQ parenting that I haven’t written about already! Have a read and catch up.