Chosen Family and Queer Kinship: Navigating Chosen Family in the Context of Health, Illness, and the Mutual Provision of Care Amongst Queer and Trans Young Adults

Background and Purpose: "Chosen family" – families formed outside of biological or legal bonds – is a signature of the queer experience. However, little is known about the stakes of “chosen family” for queer and trans young adults in terms of health, illness, and the mutual provision of care. There are many reasons individuals choose to form communities that serve as families, particularly in a neoliberal environment that prioritizes free movement and individualization. Yet “chosen family” is a refuge specifically generated by and for the queer experience, and so this study explores questions of queer kinship in health care settings by tracing the limits and possibilities of "family" outside of the extant societal contracts.

Methods: Drawing from kinship, queer, and feminist theories, this exploratory study takes a phenomenological approach to semi-structured interviews (n=11) with self-identified queer adults above the age of eighteen who live in a Midwest state and who self-identify as having “chosen family.” Participants were recruited by convenience sampling on social media. Emotive coding was used to conduct thematic analysis of transcriptions in order to respond to our two aims: (1) To develop an understanding of the beliefs and values that form the definition of “chosen family” for queer adults; and (2) To understand the ways in which “chosen family” functions in terms of care for health and illness.

Findings: Several themes emerged, allowing researchers to better understand the experiences of this population in navigating the concept of “chosen family” within and beyond health care settings. Emergent themes include intersecting queer identities and chronic illness or disability identities; and the pluralistic definition of the term “chosen family.” Furthermore, discussion at the intersection of race, class, and “chosen family” formations emerged. Participants indicated that “chosen family” is used to make queer mutual aid legible within a white, middle or upper middle-class context whereas mutual aid and “chosen family” formations are more inherently understood amongst poor communities or communities of color.

Conclusions and Implications: These findings offer many implications for how health care professionals, mental health providers, and social workers can better engage queer individuals and their support networks in healthcare settings. Further research into various types and formations of "chosen family” is called for in order to deepen an understanding of queer adults’ experiences of mutual aid and caregiving amongst their networks of “chosen family.”