Bridging Disciplinary Boundaries (January 11 - 14, 2007)

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the experiences of adoptive gay male couples in their transition to parenthood. Specifically, this study examined: (1) the challenges gay male couples faced in their transition to adoptive parenthood; (2) how they coped with these challenges; and (3) how the transition affected their relationships.

This study's framework was built on three temporal stages: (1) coupled life before the adoption; (2) the adoption process; and (3) family life post-placement. A semi-structured interview was administered to eight gay male couples. Thematic qualitative analysis was employed and the software program ATLAS.ti was used to support analysis activities.

Pre-adoption, couples overcame their belief that gay parenting was harmful to children. Findings suggest that informant couples possessed characteristics that helped them overcome internalized homophobia: a close relationship; an intense longing to parent; emotional maturity; and complementarity.

During the adoption process, two themes unique to gay male couples were derived from informant narratives. The first involved informants' affirmation that adoption was their first choice of family creation. The second concerned the means by which couples contended with anti-gay adoption policies: collaborative decision-making; setting boundaries with families and friends; exhaustive preparation; and, caring for the relationship.

Post-placement, respondent couples underwent unique transitions as gay male adoptive couples such as the heightened visibility their family attracted contributing to increased feelings of vigilance in anticipation of public disapproval. Couples expressed freedom to define parenting and partner roles based on the interests and talents of each partner where decisions regarding roles were arrived at collaboratively. Some couples struggled with role conflicts and the influence of male-socialization in achieving a balance of domestic, caretaking, and breadwinning responsibilities. Couples described parenting as pivotal in transforming their identities as gay men and as a couple. As a direct result of their new roles as parents, informants described a deepening sense of emotional intimacy, an enhanced trust in the permanence of their relationships, and learning more constructive ways of resolving differences.

During the pre-adoption and adoption phases, study findings suggest the following objectives for social work practitioners: (1) assisting clients in overcoming internalized homophobia that would hold it as inappropriate for them to parent; (2) helping clients to overcome fears about both adoption in general and about gay adoption specifically; (3) educating clients about adoption resources (4) empowering couples to deal with the homophobia they might encounter in their interactions with birth parents, child welfare personnel, and international agents; (5) assisting couples as they grapple with feelings of grief, frustration, and anger that arise from the losses and injustices they may encounter.

Study implications post- placement for social work practitioners suggest that adoptive couples may benefit from assistance in dealing with special needs, interracial and intercountry adoptions. Specific assistance may be required to help couples build connections to other gay parenting couples and to help them renegotiate their relationship in light of their new parenting roles.