Abstract
While there is a burgeoning literature on same-sex parent households and families, research on transgender-parent households and families remains relatively incipient. In this chapter, we draw upon the existing empirical and family theoretical literatures to present an overview of how transgender people and their partners form families (including a focus on medically assisted reproductive technologies); the demographics of transgender-parent families in existing studies; social perception and discrimination faced by transgender-parent families; forms and importance of “coming-out” processes within transgender-parent families; family functioning (including marriage, divorce, and child outcomes) in transgender-parent families; the incorporation of transgender-parent families within existing theories of the family; strengths of this particular family form and its members; and interactions between transgender-parent families and clinicians. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of existing research on transgender-parent families and offer considerations for potentially fruitful areas of future research.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Augustine, J. M., Aveldanes, J. M., & Pfeffer, C. A. (2017). Are the parents alright? Time in self-care in same-sex and different-sex two-parent families with children. Population Review, 56, 49–77. https://doi.org/10.1353/prv.2017.0007
Beatie, T. (2008). Labor of love: The story of one man’s extraordinary pregnancy. New York, NY: Avalon.
Biblarz, T. J., & Savci, E. (2010). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 480–497. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00714.x
Cahill, S., & Tobias, S. (2006). Policy issues affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender families. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.
Cahill, S., Wang, T., & Jenkins, B. (2019). Trump Administration continued to advance discriminatory policies and practices against LGBT people and people living with HIV in 2018. Boston, MA: The Fenway Institute.
Chiland, C., Clouet, A.-M., Golse, B., Guinot, M., & Wolf, J. P. (2013). A new type of family: A 12-year follow-up exploratory study of their children. Neuropsychiatrie de l’ Adolescence, 61, 365–370. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurenf.2013.07.001
Church, H. A., O’Shea, D., & Lucey, J. V. (2014). Parent-child relationships in gender identity disorder. Irish Journal of Medical Science, 183, 277–281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-013-1003-1
Clarke, V. (2002). Sameness and difference in research on lesbian parenting. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 12, 210–222. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.673
Clarke, V., & Demetriou, E. (2016). ‘Not a big deal’? Exploring the accounts of adult children of lesbian, gay and trans parents. Psychology & Sexuality, 7, 131–148. https://doi.org/10.1080/19419899.2015.1110195
Crissman, H. P., Berger, M. B., Graham, L. F., & Dalton, V. K. (2017). Transgender demographics: A household probability sample of US adults, 2014. American Journal of Public Health, 107, 213–215. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303571
dickey, l. m., Ducheny, K. M., & Ehrbar, R. D. (2016). Family creation options for transgender and gender nonconforming people. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 3, 173–179. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000178
Dierckx, M., Mortelmans, D., Motmans, J., & T’Sjoen, G. (2017). Resilience in families in transition: What happens when a parent is transgender? Family Relations, 66, 399–411. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12282
Dierckx, M., & Platero, R. L. (2018). The meaning of trans∗ in a family context. Critical Social Policy, 38, 79–98. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261018317731953
Dworkin, S. H., & Pope, M. (Eds.). (2012). Casebook for counseling lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender persons and their families. Alexandria, VA: American Counseling Association.
Dziengel, L. (2015). A be/coming-out model: Assessing factors of resilience and ambiguity. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 27, 302–325. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2015.1053656
Ellis, S. A., Wojnar, D. M., & Pettinato, M. (2014). Conception, pregnancy, and birth experiences of male and gender variant gestational parents: It’s how we could have a family. Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health, 60, 62–69. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmwh.12213
Erich, S., Tittsworth, J., Dykes, J., & Cabuses, C. (2008). Family relationships and their correlations with transsexual well-being. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 4, 419–432. https://doi.org/10.1080/15504280802126141
Faccio, E., Bordin, E., & Cipolletta, S. (2013). Transsexual parenthood and new role assumptions. Culture, Health, & Sexuality, 15, 1055–1070. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2013.806676
Flores, A. R., Herman, J. L., Gates, G. J., & Brown, T. N. T. (2016). How many adults identify as transgender in the United States? Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute.
Freedman, D., Tasker, F., & di Ceglie, D. (2002). Children and adolescents with transsexual parents referred to a specialist gender identity development service: A brief report of key developmental features. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 7, 423–432. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104502007003009
Goldberg, A. E., & Allen, K. R. (Eds.). (2013). LGBT-parent families: Innovations in research and implications for practice. New York, NY: Springer.
Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., Tanis, J., Harrison, J., Herman, J. L., & Keisling, M. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Green, R. (1978). Sexual identity of 37 children raised by homosexual or transsexual parents. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 135, 692–697. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.135.6.692
Green, R. (1998). Transsexuals’ children. International Journal of Transgenderism, 2, https://www.acthe.fr/upload/1445876170-green-r-1998-transsexuals-s-children.pdf
Haines, B. A., Ajayi, A. A., & Boyd, H. (2014). Making trans parents visible: Intersectionality of trans and parenting identities. Feminism & Psychology, 24, 238–247. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353514526219
Hines, S. (2006). Intimate transitions: Transgender practices of partnering and parenting. Sociology, 40, 353–371. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038038506062037
Howey, N., & Samuels, E. (2000). Out of the ordinary: Essays on growing up with gay, lesbian, and transgender parents. New York, NY: Stonewall Inn Editions.
Hubbard, E. A., & Whitley, C. T. (Eds.). (2012). Trans-kin: A guide for families and friends of transgender people. Boulder, CO: Boulder Press.
Huynh, Q.-L., Nguyen, A.-M. T. D., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2011). Bicultural identity integration. In S. J. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. L. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 827–842). New York, NY: Springer.
Israel, G. E. (2005). Translove. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 1, 53–67. https://doi.org/10.1300/J461v01n01_05
James-Abra, S., Tarasoff, L. A., green, d., Epstein, R., Anderson, S., Marvel, S., … Ross, L. E. (2015). Trans people’s experiences with assisted reproduction services: A qualitative study. Human Reproduction, 30, 1365–1374. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/dev087
Kalmus, S., & Kalmus, C. (Eds.). (2017). Queer families: An LGBTQ+ true stories anthology. Lanesborough, MA: Qommunity LLC.
Lev, A. I. (2004). Transgender emergence: Therapeutic guidelines for working with gender-variant people and their families. New York, NY: Haworth Clinical Practice Press.
Levi, J. L., & Monnin-Browder, E. E. (Eds.). (2012). Transgender family law: A guide to effective advocacy. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.
Light, A. D., Obedin-Maliver, J., Sevelius, J. M., & Kerns, J. L. (2014). Transgender men who experienced pregnancy after female-to-male gender transitioning. Obstetrics and Gynecology, 124, 1120–1127. https://doi.org/10.1097/AOG.0000000000000540
Macdonald, T. (2016). Where’s the mother? Stories from a transgender dad. Dugald, MB: Trans Canada Press.
MacDonald, T., Noel-Weiss, J., West, D., Walks, M., Biener, M. L., Kibbe, A., & Myler, E. (2016). Transmasculine individuals’ experiences with lactation, chestfeeding, and gender identity: A qualitative study. BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, 16, 106–122. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-016-0907-y
Mamo, L., & Alston-Stepnitz, E. (2015). Queer intimacies and structural inequalities: New directions in stratified reproduction. Journal of Family Issues, 36, 519–540. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X14563796
Meier, S. C., & Labuski, C. M. (2013). The demographics of the transgender population. In A. Baumle (Ed.), International handbook on the demography of sexuality (pp. 289–327). New York, NY: Springer.
More, S. D. (1998). The pregnant man—An oxymoron? Journal of Gender Studies, 7, 319–328. https://doi.org/10.1080/09589236.1998.9960725
Murphy, T. F. (2010). The ethics of helping transgender men and women have children. Perspectives in Biology and Medicine, 53, 46–60. https://doi.org/10.1353/pbm.0.0138
Murphy, T. F. (2012). The ethics of fertility preservation in transgender body modifications. Bioethical Inquiry, 9, 311–316. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11673-012-9378-7
Murphy, T. F. (2015). Assisted gestation and transgender women. Bioethics, 29, 389–397. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12132
Obedin-Maliver, J., & Makadon, H. J. (2016). Transgender men and pregnancy. Obstetric Medicine, 9, 4–8. https://doi.org/10.1177/1753495X15612658
Petit, M.-P., Julien, D., & Chamberland, L. (2017). Negotiating parental designations among trans parents’ families: An ecological model of parental identity. Psychology of Sexual Orientation and Gender Diversity, 4, 282–295. https://doi.org/10.1037/sgd0000231
Pfeffer, C. A. (2010). “Women’s work”? Women partners of transgender men doing housework and emotion work. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 165–183. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00690.x
Pfeffer, C. A. (2014). “I don’t like passing as a straight woman.”: Queer negotiations of identity and social group membership. American Journal of Sociology, 120, 1–44. https://doi.org/10.1086/677197
Pfeffer, C. A. (2017). Queering families: The postmodern partnerships of cisgender women and transgender men. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Pfeffer, C. A., & Castañeda, N. N. (2018). Trans and gender variant individuals and couples: Risk factors for relationship dissatisfaction, conflict, and divorce. In A. E. Goldberg & A. Romero (Eds.), LGBTQ divorce and relationship dissolution: Psychological and legal perspectives and implications for practice (pp. 287–311). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Power, J., Brown, R., Schofield, M. J., Pitts, M., McNair, R., Perlesz, A., & Bickerdike, A. (2014). Social connectedness among lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents living in metropolitan and regional and rural areas of Australia and New Zealand. Journal of Community Psychology, 42, 869–889. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-10-115
Pyne, J. (2012). Transforming family: Trans parents and their struggles, strategies, and strengths. Toronto, ON: LGBTQ Network, Sherbourne Health Clinic.
Pyne, J., Bauer, J., & Bradley, K. (2015). Transphobia and other stressors impacting trans parents. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 11, 107–126. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2014.941127
Riggs, D. W. (2013). Transgender men’s self-representations of bearing children post-transition. In F. J. Green & M. Friedman (Eds.), Chasing rainbows: Exploring gender fluid parenting practices (pp. 62–71). Toronto, ON: Demeter Press.
Ryan, M. (2009). Beyond Thomas Beatie: Trans men and the new parenthood. In R. Epstein (Ed.), Who’s your daddy? And other writings on queer parenting (pp. 139–150). Toronto, ON: Sumach Press.
Sabatello, M. (2011). Advancing transgender family rights through science: A proposal for an alternative framework. Human Rights Quarterly, 33, 43–75. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23015980
Smith, T. W., Davern, M., Freese, J., & Morgan, S. L. (2019). General Social Surveys, 1972–2018. [machine-readable data file]. Principal Investigator, T. W. Smith; Co-Principal Investigators, M. Davern, J. Freese, & S. L. Morgan, NORC ed. Chicago, IL: NORC at the University of Chicago.
Stotzer, R. L., Herman, J. L., & Hasenbush, A. (2014). Transgender parenting: A review of existing research. Los Angeles, CA: The Williams Institute.
Tabor, J. (2018). Mom, dad, or somewhere in between: Role-relational ambiguity and children of transgender parents. Journal of Marriage and Family. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12537
Tornello, S. L., & Bos, H. (2017). Parenting intentions among transgender individuals. LGBT Health, 4, 115–120. https://doi.org/10.1089/lgbt.2016.0153
Veldorale-Griffin, A. (2014). Transgender parents and their adult children’s experiences of disclosure and transition. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 10, 475–501. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2013.866063
Veldorale-Griffin, A., & Darling, C. A. (2016). Adaptation to parental gender transition: Stress and resilience among transgender parents. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 45, 607–617. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-015-0657-3
von Doussa, H., Power, J., & Riggs, D. (2015). Imagining parenthood: The possibilities and experiences of parenthood among transgender people. Culture, Health and Sexuality, 17, 1119–1131. https://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2015.1042919
White, T., & Ettner, R. (2004). Disclosure, risks and protective factors for children whose parents are undergoing a gender transition. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Psychotherapy, 8, 129–145. https://doi.org/10.1080/19359705.2004.9962371
White, T., & Ettner, R. (2007). Adaptation and adjustment in children of transsexual parents. European Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 16, 215–221. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-006-0591-y
Wierckz, K., Van Caenegem, E., Pennings, G., Elaut, E., Dedecker, D., Van De Peer, F., … T’Sjoen, G. (2012). Reproductive wish in transsexual men. Human Reproduction, 27, 483–487. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/der406
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pfeffer, C.A., Jones, K.B. (2020). Transgender-Parent Families. In: Goldberg, A.E., Allen, K.R. (eds) LGBTQ-Parent Families. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35610-1_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35610-1_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-35609-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-35610-1
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)