Lesbian and Gay Parenting - Essay Example

But the lesbian and gay parents and their children face discrimination and marginalization in the society. So, the mainstream society needs to change because one’s sexual identity is personal can do nothing to the children. Personal experience: The personal experience/interaction section in this work is based upon my personal interaction with lesbian and gay parents and their children, and is divided into two sections: response to reading reflections and intervention with lesbian and gay parents and attempt to unearth the problems faced by them. A. Response to reading reflections From a different angle of view, parenting is not a difficult task for lesbian and gay people, but the process to have children of their own is extremely difficult for them.

For instance, lesbian and gay parents cannot have their own children through biological process. So, they are forced to depend upon other methods like adopting a child from an orphanage, depending upon donors who are ready to co-operate with insemination, and accepting the help of surrogate mothers. On the other side, the lesbian and gay parents are similar to other parents because they show keen interest in the growth and development of their children. . One can see that the general opinion that the children who are from lesbian and gay families face a number of disadvantages is not true because researches based on the same reject this generalization.

Ricketts (1991) makes clear that, “Studies on gay and lesbian parenting support the position that children are not disadvantaged and, in some cases, receive unique benefit from being reared by gay, lesbian individuals” (p.47). Besides, the lesbian and gay people do not consider their families as different from traditional families and they are ready to raise children. Mizrahi (2008) states that, “Recent government surveys demonstrate that many lesbians and gay men are already raising children, and more lesbians and gay people would like to have children at some point” (p.245). So, one can easily identify the fact that a child’s parents’ sexual identity or the interest in lesbianism/homosexuality does not harm his or her growth and development. B. Intervention with lesbian and gay parents and attempt to unearth the problems faced by them So as to unearth the problems faced by lesbian and gay parents, I interacted with a number of lesbian and gay parents and their children.

Most of the lesbian and gay parents pointed out that they do not feel any difference from other parents. They further added that their sexual identity will not harm their children’s lives because it is personal. But Harding (2011) states that, “But in certain respects, lesbian and gay parenting remains on the periphery of legal protections for lesbians and gay men, and understandings of the relations of family life for lesbian and gay parents are much less entrenched than considerations of same-sex relationships”(p.5). On the other side, most of the