Gay Men Choosing Parenthood [Paperback]

Gerald P. Mallon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 2003 | ISBN-10: 0231117973 | ISBN-13: 978-0231117975

Gay parenting is a topic on which almost everyone has an opinion but almost nobody has any facts. Here at last is a book based on a thorough review of the literature, as well as interviews with a pioneering group of men who in the 1980s chose to become fathers outside the boundaries of a heterosexual union -- through foster care, adoption, and other kinship relationships.

This book reveals how very natural and possible gay parenthood can be. What factors influence this decision? How do the experiences of gay dads compare to those of heterosexual men? How effectively do professional services such as support groups serve gay fathers and prospective gay fathers? What elements of the social climate are helpful -- and hurtful? Gay Men Choosing Parenthood challenges a great deal of misinformation, showing how gay fathers from different backgrounds adapted, perceived, and constructed their options and their families.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Using a "decidedly gay-affirming lens" that does not assume heterosexuality is the norm, Mallon's study of gay parenthood employs case studies and interviews to illuminate its subject. The author, an associate professor of social work at Hunter College, examines the factors that contribute to the changes in gay men's lives once they become parents and offers suggestions as to why these changes should impact the child welfare system and professionals who work in the human services fields. Focusing on dads in New York and Los Angeles and using cogent, non-technical prose, Mallon explores issues such as the initial reactions to bringing a new child home, community responses to gay dads and gender politics. He also provides insight into the emotions common to gay men who choose to become parents. His study should enlighten psychologists, policy makers and anyone working in the field of childcare and the legal and social institutions surrounding it.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

I don't know why people make such a big deal about having a gay dad. To be honest I am kind of sick of talking about it. In my day to day life I don't think so much about having a gay dad. My dad is my dad -- and he is a great dad -- he just happens to be gay, that's all.

(child of a gay dad 28:4)

I wish that there had been a book like this when I adopted my child. It was not a difficult decision for me to become a dad, but it was very complicated negotiating the foster care and adoption systems. Gay Men Choosing Parenthood will help other gay men who are deciding about parenthood to navigate this journey.

(a gay dad )

This book is both an engrossing journey into the lives of gay male parents and a superb piece of scholarship on psychological resilience and self-determination. You will never view fatherhood and family life in the same way again!

(Robert-Jay Green, California School of Professional Psychology, Alliant International University, San Francisco Co-Editor of Lesbians and Gays in Couples and Families )

[Mallon] provides insight into the emotions common to gay men who choose to become parents. His study should enlighten psychologists, policy makers and anyone working in the field of childcare and the legal and social institutions surrounding it.

(Publishers Weekly )

An affirming book for gay fathers or fathers-to-be, written with an excellent balance between anecdote and clear, simplified research.

(Youth Today )

Mallon examines the experiences of 20 gay men from New York and Los Angeles who became fathers without a female coparent in the 1980s....The interviews and extensive bibliography make Mallon's a good purchase for academic libraries.

(Library Journal )

Gay dads of any kind, or men hoping to become gay dads, will find inspiration among these stories of real parenting, gender politics, community responses, and the personal transformation that life with a child brings.

(Advocate )

Important and much-needed chronicles of an emerging and evolving portion of American society, the queer family.

(Jim Nawrocki Update )

Gay Men Choosing Parenthood is well presented and easy to read... I found this book insightful and invaluable study into an area where there has been little research/

(Ian Harvey Adoption & Fostering )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 153 pages
• Publisher: Columbia University Press (December 31, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0231117973
• ISBN-13: 978-0231117975
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,248,729 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gerald P. Mallon, DSW, is the Julia Lathrop Professor of Child Welfare and Executive Director of the National Resource Center for Permanency and Family Connections at the Hunter College Social Work in New York City.

For more than 36 years, Dr. Mallon has been a child welfare practitioner, advocate, educator, and researcher. More than 25 years ago Dr. Mallon started the Green Chimneys program for LGBTQ youth, the first mainstream child welfare agency in the country to care for these youth.

Dr. Mallon is the Senior Editor of the professional journal, Child Welfare and the author or editor of more than twenty-one books. His most recent publication with Peg Hess is Child Welfare for the Twenty-First Century, to be published by Columbia University Press in 2012.


Dr. Mallon has lectured and worked extensively throughout the United States, and internationally in Australia, Canada, Cuba, Indonesia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.

Dr. Mallon earned his doctorate in Social Welfare from the City University of New York at Hunter College and holds an MSW from Fordham University and a BSW from Dominican College, and he puts his money where is mouth is as he has been a foster parent and is an adoptive parent.

He lives in New York City and New Orleans, Louisiana.