Lesbian and Gay Foster Care and Adoption, Second Edition

Wisdom and experience from lesbian, gay, and transgender foster and adoptive parentsFeaturing a spectrum families from a diverse backgrounds, this book reveals the joys and challenges of adoptive and foster parenting. The authors outline how the experience of adopting of fostering has changed for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people over the years, outlining some of the major changes in policy, and what the research can tell us about LGBT parenting and adopted and fostered children. They interview families involved at different stages of the fostering and adoption process, from those undergoing assessments through to the experienced foster carers and adopters who were interviewed for the first edition of this book 20 years previously, and describe parenting adolescent and adult children. While the number of LGBT people adopting or fostering has increased since then, some of the very real challenges still endure: encounters with social stigma, racism, homophobia, and discriminatory policies -- and families share some of the strategies they have used to help address these. Full of remarkable stories that stay with the reader well after reading, this is an essential guide for same-sex couples and LGBT single parents, as well as social workers, social work educators and fostering and adoption panel members.