Abstract
This chapter examines the research on LGBTQ-parent families from four non-Western regions: Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Middle East, with a more in-depth look into the state of research and study findings from South Africa, Brazil, Mexico, and Israel, where research has been more prolific. Although there have been some research in these regions, the fact that most of these studies have been published in languages other than English constitutes a barrier to fully integrate its findings into the broader knowledge in the field of LGBTQ-parent families. In contrast with most of the research from Europe and the USA, the studies from non-Western contexts have been almost exclusively small qualitative studies. Nevertheless, these studies have captured a wide variety of family configurations within LGBTQ-parent families and highlighted how prejudiced contexts can impact how LGBTQ people do family and how LGBTQ-parent families fare. Differences across and within regions were also identified. Whereas in highly homonegative contexts LGBTQ individuals do not live their same-gender relationships openly and may not identify with an LGBTQ identity, in other contexts the experiences of parents and children in LGBTQ-parent families are shaped by factors such as race, socioeconomic status, and education level. Given the new developments in the field across non-Western contexts, further research is needed to examine the impact of social and legal changes on the well-being of LGBTQ parents and their children.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Aguirre, S. G. (2015). Parenting practices of some gay men in Mexico City. Between taboos and new bets for their practice. Sociedad y Economía, 29, 39–62.
Ainsworth, M. D. S., Blehar, M. C., Waters, E., & Wall, S. (1978). Patterns of attachment. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Armesto, J. C. (2002). Developmental and contextual factors that influence gay fathers’ parental competence: A review of the literature. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 3, 67–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/1524-9220.3.2.67
Barrientos, J. (2016). The social and legal status of gay men, lesbians and transgender persons, and discrimination against the populations in Latin America. Sexualidad, Salud y Sociedad – Revista Latinoamericana, 22, 331–354. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-6487.sess.2016.22.15.a
Barrientos, J., & Nardi, H. C. (2016). Introduction: Sexual minorities’ discrimination in Iberian and Latin American countries. Journal of Homosexuality, 63, 1443–1445. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918639.2016.1222823
Başoğlu, B. (2015). Legal status of same-sex couples within the framework of Turkish civil law. In M. Sáez (Ed.), Same-sex couples: Comparative insights on marriage and cohabitation (pp. 189–208). Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer.
Ben-Ari, A., & Livni, T. (2006). Motherhood is not a given thing: Experiences and constructed meanings of biological and nonbiological lesbian mothers. Sex Roles, 54, 521–531. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-006-9016-0
Ben-Ari, A., & Weinberg-Kurnik, G. (2007). The dialectics between the personal and the interpersonal in the experiences of adoptive single mothers by choice. Sex Roles, 56, 823–833. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-007-9241-1
Birenbaum-Carmeli, D., & Dirnfeld, M. (2008). The more the better? IVF policy in Israel and women's views. Reproductive Health Matters, 16, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0968-8080(08)31352-4
Bonthuys, E. (2008). Possibilities foreclosed: The civil union act and lesbian and gay identity in southern Africa. Sexualities, 11, 726–739. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460708096915
Breshears, D., & Lubbe-De Beer, C. (2014). A qualitative analysis of adult children’s advice for parents coming out to their children. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 45, 231–238. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0035520
Breshears, D., & Lubbe-De Beer, C. (2016). Same-sex parented families’ negotiation of minority social identity in South Africa. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 12, 346–364. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2015.1080134
Carneiro, F. A., Tasker, F., Salinas-Quiroz, F., Leal, I., & Costa, P. A. (2017). Are the fathers alright? A systematic and critical review of studies on gay and bisexual fatherhood. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1636. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01636
Costa, P. A., & Salinas-Quiroz, F. (2018). A comparative study of attitudes toward same-gender parenting and gay and lesbian rights in Portugal and in Mexico. Journal of Homosexuality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2018.1519303
Dankwa, S. O. (2009). “It’s a silent trade”: Female same-sex intimacies in post-colonial Ghana. NORA – Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research, 17, 192–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/08038740903117208
Díaz, S. S., González, S. P., & Garrido, P. (2018). Being a mother outside heteronormativity: Vital trajectories and challenges of Chilean homoparental families. Psicoperspectivas, 17, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.5027/psicoperspectivas-vol17-issue1-fulltext-1202
Erera, P. I., & Segal-Engelchin, D. (2014). Gay men choosing to co-parent with heterosexual women. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 10, 449–474. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2013.858611
Erez, C., & Shenkman, G. (2016). Gay dads are happier: Subjective well-being among gay and heterosexual fathers. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 12, 451–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2015.1102668
Garcia, M. R. V., Wolf, A. G., Oliveira, E. V., Souza, J. T. F., Goncalves, L. O., & Oliveira, M. (2007). “Nao podemos falhar”: A busca pela normalidade em familias homoparentais. In M. Grossi, A. P. Uziel, & L. Mello (Eds.), Conjugalidades, parentalidades e identidades lésbicas, gays e travesties (pp. 277–299). Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: Garamond.
Gross, A. (2014). The politics of LGBT rights in Israel and beyond: Nationality, normativity & queer politics. Colombia Human Rights Law Review, 46, 82–151. Retrieved from https://heinonlineorg.ezprimo1.idc.ac.il/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/colhr46&div=14&g_sent=1&casa_token=&collection=journals&t=1558332641
Grossi, M. P. (2003). Gênero e parentesco: Familias gays e lésbicas no Brasil. Cadernos Pagu, 21, 261–280. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0104-83332003000200011
Henrickson, M. (2018). Promoting the dignity and worth of all people: The privilege of social work. International Social Work, 61, 758–766. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020872816685616
Herdt, G. (1997). Same sex, different cultures: Exploring gay and lesbian lives. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Hernández, J. G., & Uziel, A. P. (2014). Famílias homoparentais e escola: Entre a vigilância e a transformação. Momento, 23, 9–24.
Hildebrandt, T. (2019). The one-child policy, eldercare, and LGB Chinese: A social policy explanation for family pressure. Journal of Homosexuality, 66, 590–608. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1422946
Inhorn, M. C., Birenbaum-Carmeli, D., Tremayne, S., & Gürtin, Z. B. (2017). Assisted reproduction and Middle East kinship: A regional and religious comparison. Reproductive Biomedicine & Society Online, 4, 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rbms.2017.06.003
Ipsos. (2013, June). Same-sex marriage: Citizens in 16 countries assess their views on same-sex marriage for a total global perspective. Paris, France: Global @dvisor. Retrieved from https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/news_and_polls/2013-06/6151-ppt.pdf
Jacques, G. (2013). Sexual minorities in Africa: A challenge for social work. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 25, 158–177. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2013.782835
Jeffreys, E., & Wang, P. (2018). Pathways to legalizing same-sex marriage in China and Taiwan: Globalization and “Chinese values”. In B. Winters, M. Forest, & R. Sénac (Eds.), Global perspectives on same-sex marriage (pp. 197–219). Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Ji, Y., Wu, X., Sun, S., & He, G. (2017). Unequal care, unequal work: Toward a more comprehensive understanding of gender inequality in post-reform urban China. Sex Roles, 77, 765–778. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0751-1
Johnson, S. M. (2012). Lesbian mothers and their children: The third wave. Journal of Lesbian Studies, 16, 45–53. https://doi.org/10.1080/10894160.2011.557642
Kama, A. (2011). Parading pridefully into the mainstream: Gay and lesbian immersion in the civil core. In G. Ben-Porat & B. Turner (Eds.), The contradictions of Israeli citizenship: Land, religion and state (pp. 180–202). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Karimi, A., & Bayatrizi, Z. (2018). Dangerous positions: Male homosexuality in the new penal code of Iran. Punishment & Society. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474518787465
Kruger, L., Lubbe-De Beer, C., & Du Plessis, A.-B. (2016). Resilience in gay and lesbian parent families: Perspectives from the chrono-system. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 47, 343–366. Retrieved from https://www.utpjournals.press/doi/abs/10.3138/jcfs.47.3.343
Laguna-Maqueda, O. E. (2016). Arreglos parentales de varones gay en la Ciudad de México: De la paternidad negada a la transformación inadvertida del cuidado. MSC – Masculinities. Social Change, 5, 182–204. https://doi.org/10.17583/MCS.2016.2033
Laguna-Maqueda, O. E. (2017). Un huésped no invitado: Homofobia en los arreglos parentales de padres gay en la Ciudad de México. Cotidiano, 202, 31–43.
Latinobarómetro. (2015). Grado de acuerdo: Matrimónio entre personas del mismo sexo. Retrieved from www.latinobarometro.org
Lavee, Y., & Katz, R. (2003). The family in Israel: Between tradition and modernity. Marriage & Family Review, 35, 193–217. https://doi.org/10.1300/J002v35n01_11
Lee, P. H. (2016). LGBT rights versus Asian values: De/re-constructing the universality of human rights. The International Journal of Human Rights, 20, 978–992. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2016.1192537
Libson, M. (2010). Many ways of not being. Gay/lesbian right and the recognition of family contexts. Sexualidad. Salud y Sociedad, 6, 105–126. https://doi.org/10.1590/S1984-64872010000100006
Lira, A. N., Morais, N. A., & Boris, G. D. J. B. (2016). The (in)visibility of female homoparental experience: Between prejudice and overcomings. Psicologia: Ciencia e Profissao, 36, 20–33. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-3703000152014
Lira, A. N., Morais, N. A., & Boris, G. D. J. B. (2017). Conceptions and ways of family living: The perspective of lesbian women who have children. Psicologia: Teoria e Pesquisa, 32, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1590/0102.3772e324213
Liu, H., Feng, T., Ha, T., Liu, H., Cai, Y., … Li, J. (2011). Chinese culture, homosexuality stigma, social support and condom use: A path analytic model. Stigma Research and Action, 1, 27–35. https://doi.org/10.5463/sra.v1i1.16
Lubbe, C. (2007). To tell or not to tell: How children of same-gender parents negotiate their lives at school. Education as Change, 11, 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/16823200709487165
Lubbe, C. (2008a). Mothers, fathers or parents: Same-gendered families in South Africa. Agenda, 76, 43–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2008.9674931
Lubbe, C. (2008b). The gift of growing up in a same-gendered family: A case study. Journal of Psychology in Africa, 18, 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1080/14330237.2008.10820175
Lubbe, C. (2008c). The experiences of children growing up in lesbian-headed families in South Africa. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 4, 325–359. https://doi.org/10.1080/15504280802177540
Menassé, A. A. (2017). Mental health professionals and their relationship with homo-parental families in Mexico. Debate Feminista, 54, 17–33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.df.2017.07.002
Menassé, A. A., Cosme, J. A. G., & Rodríguez, M- M. G. (2014). Experiências de famílias homoparentales com profesionales de la psicología en Mexico, Distrito Federal. Una aproximación cualitativa. Cuicuilco, 59, 211–236.
Miguel, F. (2016). (Homo)sexualidades masculinas em Cabo Verde: Um caso para pensar teorias antropológicas e movimento LGBT em África. Enfoque, 15, 87–110.
Msibi, T. (2011). The lies we have been told: On (homo)sexuality in Africa. Africa Today, 58, 5–77. https://doi.org/10.2979/africatoday.58.1.55
Msibi, T. (2013). Denied love: Same-sex desire, agency and social oppression among African men who engage in same-sex relationships. Agenda, 27, 105–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/10130950.2013.811014
Muedini, F. (2018). LGBTI rights in Turkey: Sexuality and the state in the Middle East. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Needham, J. (2012). After the Arab spring: A new opportunity for LGBT human rights advocacy. Duke Journal of Gender Low & Policy, 20, 287–323.
Nomaguchi, K. M., & Milkie, M. A. (2003). Costs and rewards of children: The effects of becoming a parent on adults’ lives. Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 356–374. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00356.x
Palma, Y. A., & Strey, M. N. (2015). The school and family relationship: Family diversity composing the school context. Revista de Psicología, 24, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5354/0719-0581.2015.36918
Palma, Y. A., Strey, M. N., & Krugel, G. (2012). Mommy and mommy? The narratives of homomaternal families. Revista Iberoamericana de Psicologia: Ciencia e Tecnologia, 5, 81–90.
Pontes, M. F., Féres-Carneiro, T., & Magalhães, A. S. (2017). Homoparentalidade feminina: Laço biológico e laço afetivo na dinâmica familiar. Psicologia USP, 28, 276–286. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-656420150175
Riquelme, M. F. (2017). Haciendo família en el Chile del siglo XXI: Desafíos y possibilidades para personas LGBT. In J. Zandoná, A. M. Veiga, & C. Nichnig (Eds.), Proceedings of the XI Seminário Internacional Fazendo Gênero (pp. 1–9). Florianópolis, Brazil: UFSC.
Salinas-Quiroz, F., Rodríguez-Sánchez, F., Costa, P. A., Rosales, M., Silva, P., & Cambón, V. (2018). Can children have ordinary expectable environments in unconventional contexts? Quality of care organization in three Mexican same-sex planned families. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 2349. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02349
Samani, R. O., Dizaj, A. V. T., Moalem, M. R. R., Merghati, S. T., & Alizadeh, L. (2007). Access to fertility treatments for homosexual and unmarried persons, through Iranian law and Islamic perspective. Iranian Journal of Fertility and Sterility, 1, 127–130. Retrieved from http://ijfs.ir/journal/article/abstract/2311
Sanches, I. R., Pelissoli, M. S., Lomando, E. M., & Levandowski, D. C. (2017). The social support network of homoaffective families constituted by women. Gerais: Revista Interinstitucional de Psicologia, 10, 176–193.
Segal-Engelchin, D., Erera, P., & Cwikel, J. (2005). The hetero-gay family: An emergent family configuration. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 1, 85–104. https://doi.org/10.1300/J461v01n03_04
Shechner, T., Slone, M., Lobel, T. E., & Shechter, R. (2013). Children's adjustment in non-traditional families in Israel: The effect of parental sexual orientation and the number of parents on children's development. Child: Care, Health and Development, 39, 178–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2214.2011.01337.x
Shechner, T., Slone, M., Meir, Y., & Kalish, Y. (2010). Relations between social support and psychological and parental distress for lesbian, single heterosexual by choice, and two-parent heterosexual mothers. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 80, 283–292. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.2010.01031.x
Shenkman, G. (2012). The gap between fatherhood and couplehood desires among Israeli gay men and estimations of their likelihood. Journal of Family Psychology, 26, 828–832. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029471
Shenkman, G. (2018). The association between basic need satisfaction in relationship and personal growth among lesbian and heterosexual mothers. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 35, 246–262. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407516681192
Shenkman, G., Ifrah, K., & Shmotkin, D. (2018). Meaning in life among middle-aged and older gay and heterosexual fathers. Journal of Family Issues, 39, 2155–2173. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X17741922
Shenkman, G., & Shmotkin, D. (2014). “Kids are joy”: Psychological welfare among Israeli gay fathers. Journal of Family Issues, 35, 1926–1939. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X13489300
Shenkman, G., & Shmotkin, D. (2016). The association between self-perceived parental role and meaning in life among gay and heterosexual fathers. Journal of Family Psychology, 30, 552–561. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000213
Shenkman, G., & Shmotkin, D. (2019). The association between self-perceived parental role and mental health concomitants among Israeli gay and heterosexual fathers. Journal of Homosexuality. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2018.1555392
Shokeid, M. (2003). Closeted cosmopolitans: Israeli gays between center and periphery. Global Networks, 3, 387–399. https://doi.org/10.1111/14710374.00068
Sion, L., & Ben-Ari, E. (2009). Imagined masculinity: Body, sexuality, and family among Israeli military reserves. Symbolic Interaction, 32, 21–43. https://doi.org/10.1525/si.2009.32.1.21
Souza, F. M. (2014). Discretos e declarados: Relatos sobre a dinâmica da vida dos homossexuais em Maputo, Moçambique. Revista Olhares Sociais, 3, 76–101.
Stacey, J., & Biblarz, T. K. (2001). (How) does the sexual orientation of parents matter? American Sociological Review, 66, 159–183. https://doi.org/10.2307/2657413
Tamagawa, M. (2016). Same-sex marriage in Japan. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 12, 160–187. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2015.1016252
Teman, E. (2010). The last outpost of the nuclear family: A cultural critique of Israeli surrogacy policy. In D. Birenbaum-Carmeli & Y. S. Carmeli (Eds.), Kin, gen, community: Reproductive technologies among Jewish Israelis (pp. 107–122). New York, NY: Berghahn Books.
Tombolato, M. A., Maia, A. C. B., Uziel, A. P., & Santos, M. A. (2018). Prejudice and discrimination in the everyday life of same-sex couples raising children. Estudos de Psicologia Campinas, 35, 111–122. https://doi.org/10.1590/1982-02752018000100011
Tsfati, M., & Ben-Ari, A. (2019). Between the social and the personal: Israeli male gay parents, surrogacy and socio-political concepts of parenthood and gender. Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 15, 42–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2017.1413475
van Eeden-Moorefield, B., Few-Demo, A. L., Benson, K., Bible, J., & Lummer, S. (2018). A content analysis of LGBT research in top family journals 2000-2015. Journal of Family Issues, 39, 1374–1395. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X17710284
Van Ewyk, J., & Kruger, L.-M. (2017). The emotional experience of motherhood in planned lesbian families in the South African context: “… Look how good a job I’m doing, look how amazing we are”. Journal of Homosexuality, 64, 343–366. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1190216
Velasco, M. L. H. (2006). Significado y ejercicio de los roles parentales entre varones homosexuales. Revista de Estudios de Género La Ventana, 23, 127–165.
Vitule, C., Couto, M. T., & Machin, R. (2015). Same-sex couples and parenthood: A look at the use of reproductive technologies. Interface – Comunicacao, Saude, Educacao, 19, 1169–1180. https://doi.org/10.1590/1807-57622014.0401
Xie, Y., & Peng, M. (2018). Attitudes toward homosexuality in China: Exploring the effects of religion, modernizing factors, and traditional culture. Journal of Homosexuality, 65, 1758–1787. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1386025
Yadegarfard, M., & Bahramabadian, F. (2014). Sexual orientation and human rights in the ethics code of the psychology and counseling organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran (PCOIRI). Ethics & Behavior, 24, 350–363. https://doi.org/10.1080/10508422.2013.845733
Ziv, I., & Freund-Eschar, Y. (2015). The pregnancy experience of gay couples expecting a child through overseas surrogacy. The Family Journal, 23, 158–166. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480714565107
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
Costa, P.A., Shenkman, G. (2020). LGBTQ-Parent Families in Non-Western Contexts. In: Goldberg, A.E., Allen, K.R. (eds) LGBTQ-Parent Families. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35610-1_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-35610-1_20
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)