Preconception and LGBTQ+ Couples: Options and Support for Parenthood


Book Description

Preconception and LGBTQ+ Couples: Options and Support for Parenthood is a comprehensive guide that provides valuable information and resources for LGBTQ+ couples who are considering starting a family. This short read book covers a wide range of topics, including adoption, assisted reproductive technologies, surrogacy, legal considerations, support networks, financial considerations, parenting resources, building a supportive community, coming out, and celebrating LGBTQ+ parenthood. The book begins with a detailed exploration of adoption, discussing the various options available to LGBTQ+ couples and the support systems in place to facilitate the adoption process. It then delves into assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intrauterine insemination (IUI), providing insights into the procedures, success rates, and potential challenges. Surrogacy is another important topic covered in this book, with a focus on both gestational surrogacy and traditional surrogacy. The legal considerations surrounding LGBTQ+ parenthood, including parental rights and second-parent adoption, are thoroughly examined to ensure couples are well-informed and prepared. Support networks play a crucial role in the journey to parenthood, and this book offers guidance on finding LGBTQ+ family organizations, online communities, counseling and therapy services, and peer support groups. Financial considerations are also addressed, including information on insurance coverage, grants, and financial assistance programs that can help alleviate the financial burden of starting a family. In addition to practical resources, the book provides a list of recommended books, websites, and online resources that offer further information and support. Building a supportive community is emphasized, with advice on coming out to family and friends, creating a network of allies, and celebrating LGBTQ+ parenthood. The Frequently Asked Questions section addresses common concerns and queries, ensuring that readers have access to the information they need. The book also encourages readers to reach out with any additional questions or comments they may have. Preconception and LGBTQ+ Couples: Options and Support for Parenthood is an invaluable resource for LGBTQ+ couples who are navigating the path to parenthood. With its comprehensive coverage of various options, legal considerations, support networks, and financial resources, this book equips readers with the knowledge and support they need to make informed decisions and embark on their journey to becoming parents. Get your copy today and start your journey towards LGBTQ+ parenthood with confidence. Plus, receive a bonus gift of How To Be A Super Mom, absolutely free! This title is a short read. A Short Read is a type of book that is designed to be read in one quick sitting. These no fluff books are perfect for people who want an overview about a subject in a short period of time. Table of Contents Preconception and LGBTQ+ Couples: Options and Support for Parenthood Adoption Assisted Reproductive Technologies IVF IUI Surrogacy Gestational Surrogacy Traditional Surrogacy Legal Considerations Parental Rights Second-Parent Adoption Support Networks LGBTQ+ Family Organizations Online Communities Mental Health and Emotional Support Counseling and Therapy Peer Support Groups Financial Considerations Insurance Coverage Grants and Financial Assistance Parenting Resources Books Websites and Online Resources Building a Supportive Community Coming Out Creating a Supportive Network Celebrating LGBTQ+ Parenthood Frequently Asked Questions Have Questions / Comments?




Parent Plans


Book Description




The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians


Book Description

The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians covers everything you need to make the thrilling and challenging journey to motherhood: from choosing a donor to tracking fertility to signing the right papers on the dotted lines. Rachel Pepper's lively, easy-to-read guide is the first place to go for up-to-date information and sage advice on everything from sex in the sixth month to negotiating family roles. Why a second edition? When the acclaimed first edition appeared, the author's daughter was only a few months old. This new edition takes into account the parenting know-how Pepper has developed over the intervening six years, as well as the evolving legal status of lesbian parents, and the increasing importance of the Internet for information on fertility, sperm banks, and donors. The resource section is greatly expanded, as are the sections on each trimester of pregnancy, on childbirth, and on life with a newborn. And Pepper provides more insight into preconception planning for both single lesbians and couples. An indispensable resource, The Ultimate Guide to Pregnancy for Lesbians is now bigger and better.




If These Ovaries Could Talk


Book Description

If These Ovaries Could Talk: The Things We've Learned About Making An LGBTQ Family by JAIMIE KELTON and ROBIN HOPKINS is equal parts funny, serious, happy, sad, celebratory, cautionary, and powerful. You'll learn a lot and laugh even more along the way! Who knew making a baby could be this much fun?




Companion to Sexuality Studies


Book Description

An inclusive and accessible resource on the interdisciplinary study of gender and sexuality Companion to Sexuality Studies explores the significant theories, concepts, themes, events, and debates of the interdisciplinary study of sexuality in a broad range of cultural, social, and political contexts. Bringing together essays by an international team of experts from diverse academic backgrounds, this comprehensive volume provides original insights and fresh perspectives on the history and institutional regulatory processes that socially construct sex and sexuality and examines the movements for social justice that advance sexual citizenship and reproductive rights. Detailed yet accessible chapters explore the intersection of sexuality studies and fields such as science, health, psychology, economics, environmental studies, and social movements over different periods of time and in different social and national contexts. Divided into five parts, the Companion first discusses the theoretical and methodological diversity of sexuality studies.Subsequent chapters address the fields of health, science and psychology, religion, education and the economy. They also include attention to sexuality as constructed in popular culture, as well as global activism, sexual citizenship, policy, and law. An essential overview and an important addition to scholarship in the field, this book: Draws on international, postcolonial, intersectional, and interdisciplinary insights from scholars working on sexuality studies around the world Provides a comprehensive overview of the field of sexuality studies Offers a diverse range of topics, themes, and perspectives from leading authorities Focuses on the study of sexuality from the late nineteenth century to the present Includes an overview of the history and academic institutionalization of sexuality studies The Companion to Sexuality Studies is an indispensable resource for scholars, researchers, instructors, and students in gender, sexuality, and feminist studies, interdisciplinary programs in cultural studies, international studies, and human rights, as well as disciplines such as anthropology, psychology, history, education, human geography, political science, and sociology.




Parenting Begins Before Conception


Book Description

Prospective parents learn how they can lay the foundations for a healthy, happy family life even before their children are conceived. This guide shows parents how they can optimize children's physical, emotional, and spiritual health. Illustrations.




Pathways and Barriers to Parenthood


Book Description

This volume explores the transition to parenthood from a holistic developmental approach, relating to barriers such as fertility problems and traumatic childbirth, as well as pathways such as positive experiences of pregnancy and childbirth. It presents an extended process, beginning with infertility issues, continuing with subjects pertaining to decisions regarding parenthood, pregnancy and birth, and ending with the early stages of parenthood from a positive psychology perspective. The volume draws on theories of resilience, meaning, terror management, and attachment, and considers psychological, sociological, legal, policy, medical, and therapy issues. It relates to the developmental needs of individuals and couples, as well as to the role played by family, society, and the media, offering a comprehensive in-depth evaluation of the latest topics.




Equally Wed


Book Description

By and large, most wedding books in the market are still centered around one bride and one groom. And yet, the advent of full marriage equality in the United States has made a new, polished wedding planning book dedicated to guiding LGBTQ couples both timely and essential. Kirsten Palladino will fill that need with this definitive book to inspire couples everywhere who are seeking a meaningful, personal ceremony and a momentous beginning to legally married life. Equally Wed brings author Palladino's expertise as the founder and editorial director of the world's leading online resource for LGBTQ wedding planning to the page. Palladino walks readers through every step of the notoriously costly and arduous planning process with wisdom and accessibility. From how to incorporate hot trends among LGBTQ couples to advice on how to incorporate children into a ceremony to more serious hurdles like dealing with homophobia among family members, Equally Wed has it all. The author importantly includes an accurate picture of wedding budgets for couples from all backgrounds, and shares her invaluable insider tips for making the most of each vendor; she also addresses fashion advice specific for LGBTQ readers, such as suiting up as a nonbinary nearlywed or attending fittings as a butch lesbian or a transgender woman. And best of all, she does it with the celebratory, joyful approach that all couples deserve. With a beautiful 2-color package, a total absence of heteronormative terms and assumptions, and a wealth of advice on every wedding-related topic imaginable, Equally Wed is set to be the go-to LGBTQ wedding guide just as every couple is finally free to wed.




Parenting Matters


Book Description

Decades of research have demonstrated that the parent-child dyad and the environment of the familyâ€"which includes all primary caregiversâ€"are at the foundation of children's well- being and healthy development. From birth, children are learning and rely on parents and the other caregivers in their lives to protect and care for them. The impact of parents may never be greater than during the earliest years of life, when a child's brain is rapidly developing and when nearly all of her or his experiences are created and shaped by parents and the family environment. Parents help children build and refine their knowledge and skills, charting a trajectory for their health and well-being during childhood and beyond. The experience of parenting also impacts parents themselves. For instance, parenting can enrich and give focus to parents' lives; generate stress or calm; and create any number of emotions, including feelings of happiness, sadness, fulfillment, and anger. Parenting of young children today takes place in the context of significant ongoing developments. These include: a rapidly growing body of science on early childhood, increases in funding for programs and services for families, changing demographics of the U.S. population, and greater diversity of family structure. Additionally, parenting is increasingly being shaped by technology and increased access to information about parenting. Parenting Matters identifies parenting knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with positive developmental outcomes in children ages 0-8; universal/preventive and targeted strategies used in a variety of settings that have been effective with parents of young children and that support the identified knowledge, attitudes, and practices; and barriers to and facilitators for parents' use of practices that lead to healthy child outcomes as well as their participation in effective programs and services. This report makes recommendations directed at an array of stakeholders, for promoting the wide-scale adoption of effective programs and services for parents and on areas that warrant further research to inform policy and practice. It is meant to serve as a roadmap for the future of parenting policy, research, and practice in the United States.




Gay and Lesbian Parenting


Book Description

A new, multidisciplinary look at GLBT parenting Over the past 30 years, research on gay and lesbian parents has produced findings that challenge deeply rooted beliefs in child psychology about the processes through which parents influence the development of their children. Gay and Lesbian Parenting: New Directions builds on this important research with a detailed multidisciplinary examination of established knowledge and emerging information. In addition to evaluating already substantiated findings, this innovative collection marks a turning point in the field by showcasing a new wave of research that examines the dynamics of same-sex parenting and addresses questions about newly emerging concerns such as the consequences of different routes to same-sex parenthood and the effects of social perceptions on gay and lesbian family life. Gay and Lesbian Parenting: New Directions presents an overview of significant developments and suggests future directions for the field. Arranged in four sections, this unique text offers cutting-edge information gathered from both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Section one considers gay and lesbian family formation and the may routes through which lesbians and gay men have become parents. Section two reviews family relationships from parents', and their children's, perspective. The contributions to the third section discuss how gay and lesbian families describe themselves to others. The final section examines the public perceptions held by heterosexuals about lesbian and gay parenting and looks toward possibilities for the future. Chapters in Gay and Lesbian Parenting: New Directions: look at established research and the perspective of gay and lesbian parents and their children on family life explore methodological advances in the research field define the demographics of gay and lesbian parenting and the comparisons of lesbians, gay men, heterosexual women, and heterosexual men without children consider the decisions involved in and the systemic process of donor insemination and surrogacy study gay and lesbian adoptive parents investigate representations of diversity in storybooks for children of gay and lesbian parents situate gay men’s journeys into fatherhood within the sociohistorical context of developments in the United States tell personal stories about the prospect of gay fatherhood present a consideration of the different identities that lesbian and heterosexual mothers construct critically consider the terminology used both within and outside lesbian-parented families to describe a wide variety of co-parenting relationships give an introduction to critical psychology and deconstruct the debate over the importance of paternal influence report findings from a large community survey in Australia on attitudes toward same-sex parenting and beliefs about developmental outcomes and much more! Accessible and detailed, with numerous case studies, bibliographies, tables, and figures, Gay and Lesbian Parenting: New Directions is an ideal resource for students and educators, researchers and professionals working in GLBT and Queer Studies, family therapists, counselors, psychotherapists, social workers, and psychiatrists.