Unpacking categorizations in researching GBTIQ+ parents

Abstract

In this article, based on anthropological research conducted in the Netherlands and Switzerland, I show the diversity and multi-faceted nature of GBTIQ+ (gay, bisexual, trans, intersex, and queer) parenting. In contrast to recent research on GBTIQ+ parents, which often distinguishes between parents who have children through a (former) heterosexual encounter, adoption, fostering, surrogacy, co-parenting, or trans pregnancy, I deliberately chose not to study just one form of family formation. Drawing on 37 biographical, narrative, and thematic interviews and two group discussions with GBTIQ+ parents, I adopt a processual understanding of parenting that takes into account its fluidity and transformations over the life course. I argue that we should pay attention to how both the unique ways of forming and being a GBTIQ+ family, and common notions of imagining and doing family, intermingle in practice. Furthermore, I stress the importance of taking into account the intersecting differences within the category of GBTIQ+ parents, and accordingly, we should critically analyze which factors are relevant to an individual in a particular time and space.